New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

Concur with acap. Dave Quinn gave me 20kg Hagons to start with--much too harsh. We subbed 18kg and still a tad too harsh. Dave's easy to work with, and will provide different springs at no charge--at least once.

I'm about 165 not including riding gear, and I don't ride double.

Put Olin's on the GS--fantastic piece of kit, but very pricy. If you want to get every bit out of your Dub in the twisties, I'd say upgrade from Hagons to whatever your wallet can afford. If you just want better-than-stock, the Hagon's are fine.

Actually I'm wanting something that would match up with the Race Tech gold emulators & .80kg/mm springs. So Ohlins will be overkill...looks like Ohlins aren't available for the W anyways.

I'm thinking of the Hagon 2810 adjustable shocks but DaveQuinnMC said that the compression damping might be too stiff for my weight. The 2810 run $305.

DQMC also recommends to me the 16kg springs for the type A or P for my weight and mostly solo riding.

So the folks that have the Race Tech gold emulators & springs, do they match up well with the Hagon type A or P shocks? One doesn't out do the other? or they well matched?

Well put in the Hagon 300mm 18kg and RaceTech 80kg with Gold emulators it rides great so much smoother more supple and feels more planted. I went with a 300 because I wanted to lower the bike by an inch but now had just realized that I should of went with a 310mm because I wanted to be lower by an inch at the rear axle not the shocks..so I'm guessing is that at the rear axle it about 35mm lower. For the front I lowered it by 30mm. Stock forks is suppose to have 130mm of travel and to keep the front and rear balance I dropped the front down to 100mm of travel. I just put a spacer in the top out spring side to take up 30mm. After doing the front, I measured it and it seems to be less then 100mm more like 80mm of travel...I'm not sure if stock is really 130mm or not, it could be that they are also counting the top out spring if that was fully compressed then I could see 130mm. I left the emulators at 2 turns with the blue (lighter) springs, 15wt oil and have 6 holes in the damping rod. The spring rate for the front and back seems to mate up really well. DQMC had suggested that I went with a 16kg hagon for my riding weight of ~150# but I decided to go with the 18kg because I felt that would mate up and be better balance with the Race Tech springs of 80kg (their lightest spring). I left 20mm of preload up front and softest preload in the rear. I also had to modify, torch bend, the kickstand to accommodate the 30mm drop on both ends. The bike looks way better with it lowered and is more stable with the kickstand down because I made it so it leans over more then stock. I'll post up some pics once I finish up the kickstand. I'm gonna have to shorten the center stand too cause as of now it is almost impossible for me to get it up on the center stand, I have to get the rear up higher like roll it on a brick to be able to deploy the centerstand.

Just want to mention that I'm still looking for a top/rear rack for a W. If you've got one you're not using, please let me know.

Hello everyone! I just picked up a 2000 Kawasaki W650. Although the engine is great, I'm really not into the stock handlebars/seat setup (seems I'm not the only one). I definitely want to swap the bars out for some superbike or clubmans and the seat to something like the Corbin gunfighter. I've been trying to do some research and I can't seem to find a clear place to purchase the shorter throttle and clutch cables required for using lower bars. Also, are there any other alternatives to the Corbin Gunfighter / Gunfighter & Lady seat? I saw this photo and while I'm sure it's custom, it's exactly what I'm looking for:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ducktail964/2352857262/" title="w650_DSCN3114 by ducktail964, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3136/2352857262_a28bbf3d0c.jpg" width="500" height="379" alt="w650_DSCN3114"></a>

Thanks very much.

Seat looks custom, so I'm no help there.

Look back over this thread. Some of us just re-routed the stock cables, some ordered the OEM short cables from Europe. There may be other Kawi cables that fit . . . I seem to recall info somewhere--maybe discussed somewhere in these pages.

There's also a Yahoo W650/W800 Group. When you join the group you get access to their files section--there's a wealth of valuable data there on just about any W650 topic you might wish--including lots on the handlebar switch.

Welcome to the Dubya Asylum! They're really nice bikes, aren't they?

I bought aftermarket low bars and just used the existing cables, looks fine.

Used this, which is very close to the factory low bar bends: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/3/13/121/36822/ITEM/Emgo-Euro-Handlebars.aspx

As far as the seat, there are a few on Ebay such as this, but god knows what the shipping would be. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-W6...19?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3cb6a77c5b

Yeah, I was looking at the Emgo Eurobars. I think I should have picked those up. I purchased the Bikemaster Superbike Bars. Hopefully they'll be suitable as well. I did not pickup shorter cables, so hopefully it's not too tricky to route it with the existing longer cables. I put a good 200 miles on the bike this weekend. I love it. I'm even starting to not mind the tall bars. Now it's mainly an aesthetic reason for swapping them. They're great for cruising on backroads, but as soon as I get on the highway, I find myself wishing I had much lower bars haha.

The next step now is a new seat and then eventually painting the tank. I think I'm going to remove the knee pads and badges, fill the knee pad bracket for a smooth subtle finish and try to find some old kawasaki decals. This might be blasphemy to some, but I don't really care for the knee pads. Has anyone tried this? I've seen a few custom versions of the tank and I think it looks great like that.

Has anyone checked out the Daytona Cozy seat from Japan.Webike.Net? A little on the pricey side, but it looks like the best option. I want a flat position where I feel more "in" the bike as opposed to "on top" of it. I like the cafe look, but I still want to be able to carry a passenger. Also, something a little more plush would be great. I'm finding the stock 2000 seat to have too dramatic a forward slant and very stiff.

http://japan.webike.net/products/527161.html

I'd thought about knee pad removal as well. But--having put several thousand miles on the bike--I realize I use the pads a lot for control. Over bumps and braking hard I'll squeeze my knees against the pads, and in corners I'll put my knee hard against the outside (high) pad. Also use them to locate my butt in the seat in different places depending on what kind of silliness I'm up to. I've even decided I prefer the thick 2000 pads. They just fit my knees. YMMV.

Hey guys,
So I bought my W with about 9700 miles on the clock and with what I presume to be the original chain. I never had to adjust it until relatively recently (shortly before putting it in winter storage I tightened it up a bit because it was getting loose enough to contact the exhaust crossover at times).

This weekend I took the W on a 2-day 600-mile Catskills ride two-up with a fully loaded top case during which the bike turned over 14,000 miles, then did 440 more miles after that.

Upon returning home and taking my first ride without earplugs, I heard a hollow metallic dragging sound. Investigation revealed that the chain had loosened up significantly to the point that it was basically laying on the exhaust crossover and rubbing across it when the bike/chain was in motion.

So am I correct in thinking that a rapidly stretching chain is a sign that I should be shopping for a replacement chain and sprockets sooner rather than later?

Old fogey test: take the chain at the middle of the rear sprocket and pull it away from the teeth. if you can see daylight between the the sprocket and the chain you need to consider it well worn.If the chain pulls away at all I start to plan to change it. If the teeth on the sprockets are hooked and no longer straight then they are worn.
The official method involves checking how much slack you have on the lower run of the chain between sprockets at the tighest point on the chain (if it didn't have a tight and a loose spot the chain wouldn't work. Annoying but true).
I have found over the years that following the rule of changing chain and sprockets together produces longer lasting results. I got 42,000 miles out of my last chain on my heretical Bonneville. I use a Loobman oil flinging device (Aerostich) but that's another story. I tighten my chain a tiny amount when I feel the gears snatching in low speed around town riding. I am not very anal. I don't farkle, but I do try to ride a lot.

Links to files and database sections at W650riders
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/W650riders/files/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/W650riders/database

Adjusted the chain yesterday and gave it a good inspection - looks like it's definitely on the way out. I've ordered a replacement chain and sprockets from Kawasaki.

Also front brake pads are coming due so I've got a set of EBC HH on order.

Also coming up on the 15K service to include valve clearance check so prepare for a well-illustrated how-to post in the near future.

Looking forward to your how to post on the valve adjustment.
Kinda surprised that your chain only lasted 15k miles.
I'm back in the mountains of NC for the summer where riding the W is sweet.

Where did you order the EBC HH pads and what is the part number?

Amazon.com & FA231HH

Thank you for the information!

I put those brakes on at 1K miles, once they bedded in they made a noticeable improvement.

Looking forward to another of your great text/photo service threads.

I'll just put this out there as a standing offer, but if anyone has a set of stock W650 mufflers in good shape that they want to get rid of, hit me up. Mine have had the baffles removed by a PO and they are now a bit louder than I would really like. I'd love to restore it to stock without spending a fortune on new stock exhaust.

Thanks!

The good news, however, is that you apparently can still buy new OEM mufflers from Kawasaki! Just at $400 each.

So I've ordered a new seat. Very pricey, but it's exactly the look I'm going for:

http://www.twinshack.co.uk/prods/1034.html

I tried to put some Bikemaster Superbike bars on yesterday and it didn't go so well. I need to get proper shims instead of little rubber strips that I was trying to use. I tried some local bike shops for "problem solver" 7/8" to 1" shims but they didn't have any. I'll probably pick some up online.

I also learned that I definitely want to buy the correct clutch/throttle cables as opposed to making it work with the stock ones. Does anyone know of where to source these from. The only place I've found them is Z-Power.co.uk. Just wasn't sure if there was a place in the US to grab them or if that was my best bet. Thanks very much!