New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

[Kentucky]

The special work refers to some bending of the rearmost portion of the rack for the US W's. I will attempt to get some pics up for you in a day or two.

[Speedo66]

Hi, new here and I'm looking for a W650. One local, going to see it tomorrow.

Couple of questions if I could:

Is the rear brake housing alum., and has anybody taken off the black paint and polished it? Same for the front forks?

Has anybody had problems with the carbs gumming up over the winter with the current bad gas?

My SV650 had to have the carbs redone twice because of it, even with Sta-Bil in the gas.

Thanks

[Bert Fox]

Originally Posted by Speedo66

Hi, new here and I'm looking for a W650. One local, going to see it tomorrow.

Couple of questions if I could:

Is the rear brake housing alum., and has anybody taken off the black paint and polished it? Same for the front forks?

Has anybody had problems with the carbs gumming up over the winter with the current bad gas?

My SV650 had to have the carbs redone twice because of it, even with Sta-Bil in the gas.

Thanks

Drain the carbs when you park it. Fill the tank and put a Battery Tender on. Piece of cake!

[Kentucky]

Rear tire info for what it is worth:

Original equipment Bridgestone Accolade lasted 5750 miles.

Bridgestone BT45 Battleax lasted 7500. The front Battleax looks like it could do another 5000 to 6000 at this time.

Mounted a Bridgestone S11 Spitfire this evening. We shall see what it does.

My miles have been 70/30 Interstate/two lane.

FYI: The Spitfire can be bought for only $70.00. That's fairly cheap.
Barry

[Duelsporter]

Originally Posted by Speedo66

Hi, new here and I'm looking for a W650. One local, going to see it tomorrow.
Couple of questions if I could:
Is the rear brake housing alum., and has anybody taken off the black paint and polished it? Same for the front forks?
Has anybody had problems with the carbs gumming up over the winter with the current bad gas?
Thanks

I have seen pictures of W650's with both the rear brake housing and lower fork legs polished, but I have no experience with this myself. I've never had any issues with the carbs, but I live in an area where I can usually ride year-round. Even if it's too cold to ride, I try to crank it and at least run it around the neighborhood a few times every two weeks or so.

Here's a custom W650 Scrambler with the forks polished:

[Uncle Ernie]

Man- that is a sweet looking seat.
I tried having that ding-dong hump in mine modified some, but...

One time my bike would stall at weird times. It felt like the vent was plugged, then I was convinced it was the coil- so I get another coil. Turns out one of the jets was clogged.

I'm starting to get the impression that Sta-bil doesn't do much.

[The Jerk]

Couldn't wait for spring, took the W out for a nice ride today. Warmest day we've had in a long time, 50 degrees and sunny today.

It's been sitting for a couple months, fired right up on the first kick. Gotta love it. Got it nice and warmed up, was ready to go and it sputtered and died on me. Would fire it back up, it would sputter and die. Hmmm...it's been sitting, clogged jet, bad gas, etc? Checked the trip odometer: 115 miles. Oh, it's just out of gas! Flipped it to reserve, problem solved.

Always check the simple things first.

I guess I parked it so long ago I forgot it needed gas.

Man what a sweet running and fun bike. Love my W.

[ORexpat]

Northern VA had an uncharacteristic snowstorm over Christmas. No surprise to those of you who live in northern climes, but unusual down here. Before the Big Snow of Christmas 09, whilst playing the Norther Virginia Tag-O-Rama. That's the tag on the seat . . . . . .



And after said humungous (for this area) storm, and enough time to let some of the ice melt.



Y'all are right--the Dubya is a hoot to ride.

[Speedo66]

I looked at the 2001 W650 I had mentioned, and bought it. 190 miles on the odometer, essentially a new bike.

Original owner thought it would appreciate in value and didn't ride it much (obviously). Absolutely perfect, still had traces of the nubs on the tires.

No plates on the bike, but I rode it up and down my road, as did my son and my friend. We all agreed we liked it.

I had been looking all over the country for one, and found this one less than an hour from me on Craigslist. I brought my trailer because I knew I wasn't leaving without it. Seller was nice and we came to an agreement quickly. Even helped me load it.

Nothing like the glow from buying a new (to me) bike!

[Bert Fox]

WOW! Very cool. Get some pics! Enjoy.
Bert

[Duelsporter]

Nice find! With low miles like that, I would seriously consider leaving it totally stock. These bikes are starting to appreciate in value a little and a low-mileage stock example will probably be more desirable in the future.

[ORexpat]

Welcome to the Asylum, speedo!

[Uncle Ernie]

Originally Posted by Duelsporter

Nice find! With low miles like that, I would seriously consider leaving it totally stock. These bikes are starting to appreciate in value a little and a low-mileage stock example will probably be more desirable in the future.

Beans. It's your bike now- do whatever you want. Othrewise, you'll be on pins and needles worrying about it- Your investment. (bleh)

Hasn't come up yet, but many rear fenders start to crack and I think putting a Brit-style tail light on there lightens up the weight that vibrates back there. Also, lower bars are so much more comfortable. You can use 7/8 bars by making shims. I just cut some aluminium tubing for that. If you want shorter cables for appearances, Z-Power (England) is pretty much the way to go on that. I don't think dealers here carry cables (at least the shorter ones).

[Duelsporter]

Originally Posted by Uncle Ernie

Beans. It's your bike now- do whatever you want.

I wasn't suggesting what he should do, I was saying what I would do.

[Speedo66]

Thanks!

I had a similar thought of keeping it stock, or at least no change that couldn't be bolted back on. I don't put that many miles on per year, so it will stay low mileage for a while.

I have an old Lucas tail light sitting around and changing over to that was one of my ideas also. Too much visual spam back there. I'll try and fabricate a bracket and plate holder, unless someone sells something like that. I saw one on a German site, anyone know of a vendor in the US? Also would like much smaller aftermarket turn signals front and rear.

As far as the bars, it looks like in addition to adapters for the clamps, they would also be needed for the controls or brake master? What type of alum. tubing was used?