New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

I agree--those Distanzia's could be the cat's meow for folks who do a lot of gravel/crappy road riding. They look good on your Dub.

Since,
I only have about 400 miles on the Distanzias so don't know about the wear on the W but the handling on the pavement is good. I did have them on my now gone XT225 for five years or so with no wear issue on the hard pavement. They seemed to do just fine on the gravel but gravel riding is like riding on ball bearings.

I won't do any gravel riding until I return to the mountains of NC in May.

Just picked up a 2000 w650 last month. I'm planning on doing mods already and have some ???s. I want to change out the tank knee pads to thinner ones. I heard the 2001 or 2002 ones are thinner? If they are 2002 or later then where did ya'll get yours, since the W was only in the US for 2000-2001.

Other things planning on doing is getting smaller lights all around, chopping the fenders, doing something about the seat, got a jet kit from dynojet already (install when have time), and a two into one exhaust. Any one know where to get a two into one that comes out the right/throttle side?....I've seen some pics with this set up with a Super Trapp.

2001 pads are thinner, much more comfortable and what you're looking for.

Just purchased a set of 2001 knee pads from The w650 shop . They were 85 euros plus shipping. They are much nicer then the knee pads on a 2000.

Why didn't you purchase them here in the states? Part # 51061-1057 and 51061-1058

Back ordered every place I looked including all the on line places and kawasaki dealer parts deptment. If you have better luck let me know.

Tire dimensions apply to tires mounted and inflated on properly sized rims. Your comparison of an unmounted to a mounted tire is interesting but not really valid. Not criticizing you as I think the Avon is a good choice for an all-purpose tire. For my W650 I am considering the Dunlop classic tires as fitted to the new W800.

As I said in my thread, I noticed the same size difference when both tires were not mounted on a rim.

Also the old tire was smaller in diameter (due to wear) than the new tire when the old tire was mounted and inflated on properly sized rim. I stood the old tire when it was still on the rim against the new tire not on a rim and the new tire was larger in diameter. These tires have very stiff side walls.

That's the Dunlop Roadmaster K81 TT100 GP. It isn't the standard K81, but the classic road racer version of the tyre. Very sticky for an 'old school' tyre and handles very well. I bought the W800 new last week and have put around 2500km on it so far and there is no discernible wear yet but other W800 owners have commented that the rears don't last all that long (~5-6000km) due to the sticky rubber. 32F/34R max in any of those old style tyres, by the way. I'll probably put K70s on my W800 soon as I do a lot of gravel riding and the TT100 gets a bit slippery.

Wait, did you say 2500km in a week? I guess you're happy with the 800.

Thanks for pointing out the difference between the two Dunlops. I will probably go with the K70s as well.

9 days to 2500km. I do around 200km a day on average, more on some, as I live right at the foot of some very nice roads. The K70 is a great tyre, but it doesn't handle as well as the K81 if you like to lean the bike hard. I've run the K81s to the edge without any problems - or hitting the stand or peg feelers. Experimenting with tyre pressures will give a very good, safe ride on the K70s though. I tend to run K70s at around 28F/30R and that works fine for my 75-80kg, 30-32F/32-34R on the K81s.

Yes, the 800 is very nice, lots of torque and a decent spread in the gearbox, but I gather from people who have ridden the 650 as well (I haven't) that the 800 is not as 'sporty'. It only puts out 48hp, but it does have significantly more torque than the 650. It reminds me of a single carb BSA 650 Thunderbolt or the Royal Enfield single carb 750 (Continental? Can't remember now) whereas I hear the 650 is more akin to a twin carb Lightning or Bonneville. It does rev out to 7000rpm quickly, but the power comes on low and it doesn't have that same frantic feel that a twin carb BSA has. So far it has been averaging around 68mpg Imperial/58mpg US/24km/L, generally going onto the 'Fuel' warning flash at 270km and taking 10 and a bit litres to fill. I think the 650 is a better looking bike - the 800 has too much flashy chrome and it lacks the classic black barrels.

Suspension is pretty dire, but I'm working on that, handling is as good as (and very similar to) an old Lightning, and the brakes, lights and general 'feel' are much better. I used to ride Brit bikes way back when and it does replicate the experience very well, from the physical size of the bike, how the frame reacts in the twisties and the way the engine feels when the throttle is rolled open - even the vibes are similar to a well tuned single carb twin. The only major difference is that the footrests are about 2-3" further back and closer to the frame than is normal on a Brit twin.

I rode BMW airheads for over 30 years and generally also had a Japanese I4 of some sort as well - B1250S Bandit currently - and the 800 has been a real thrill; it replaced a very nice 650 Strom and takes me right back to what biking used to be like, no fairing, cruising at 50mph on backroads, with the nice beat of a big Brit twin being run through the gears in the bends and up the hills. (The mufflers have been 'tweaked'.) I'll put up some pics tomorrow - it is pretty dirty, but there haven't been many pics of them on ADV apart from the motor show ones.

Scrivens,
Nice write up on your impressions of the W800.
I've had three W650s now and am happy as a clam with my current 2001.
Such a joy to ride.
Luckily I found a very nice one about six months ago with only 2025 miles.
She now has 5k miles on her.

Here's one from the W800 this morning:



(The camera was mounted on an elastic strap on my left arm. Oh, and we ride on the left here...)

And a few more from the garage:

The instruments:



The engine:



A close up of the paint shading decal - it's hatched, not 'airbrushed'. Looks a bit tacky up close.



Left side of the bike:



Apologies for the poor quality; I'll take some better ones of the full left/right side.

Sweet! Nice bike, for sure.

Went out today for the NOVA tag. Beautiful day in the Virginia Piedmont.











Dubya ran like a charm. Some slab, some back roads, some gravel. Cool in the morning; was able to run both electric jacket and gloves--though never had to turn either one up too far. Low 40's when I left, low 60's when I got back. Wonderful day for a ride.

ORexpat,
Beautiful scenery in VA.
Makes me want to head up to our cabin in the mountains of WNC.
Like that Corbin seat.

There weren't many of the 650s here originally but quite a few have been imported from Japan over the last couple of years and you can get very low mileage 2007 models - but for a price. The 800 is around $A11,000 OTD and a good 650 of any year is still around the $8000 mark.

Here a few pics from today. Very sunny, so it is hard to get decent contrast in the photos.

Scrivens,
Nice photos. This has probably been discussed but why the ventilated (?) cover on the front sprocket area?