Kawasaki Takes Us Down Memory Lane With The ‘New’ W800

Kawasaki’s stall at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show isn’t all about horsepower and performance, with the green team also using the occasion to unveil the retro-styled 2020 W800. Joining the W800 Street and W800 Cafe, this one is called just the W800, and it most closely resembles the original Kawasaki W1 from 1966.

With a healthy embellishment of chrome all around, the W800 is an eye-catcher. The classic round headlight, single-piece seat and twin pea-shooter exhausts finished in chrome make this a well-executed modern retro design. The engine looks delightfully old-school as well, even including cooling fins at the exhaust ports. Both mudguards are finished in chrome too, as are the mirrors. Heck, it even gets classic chrome tank badges.

Despite all this, the W800 doesn’t feel overdone and has a clean, uncluttered look. The classic appearance is further accentuated by the presence of a 19-inch front wheel as opposed to the 18-inch units seen on the other two variants.

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As with the rest of the W range, the 2020 W800 is powered by a 773cc parallel-twin motor churning out 48PS and 62.9Nm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox via an assist and slipper clutch. A single 320mm front disc is assisted by a 270mm rear disc in bringing the W800 to a halt. Dual-channel ABS is also a standard feature.

Presently, we only get the W800 Street in India at Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-showroom), with Kawasaki giving the Cafe variant a miss. Considering the success that Triumph’s Bonneville T100 has seen in India, Kawasaki could choose to bring the W800 to our shores to act as a direct competitor to the Bonnie. If it does choose to launch the 2020 W800 in India, we can expect a price tag slightly higher than that of the W800 Street, in the range of Rs 8.5 lakh to 9 lakh (ex-showroom).