Happily, reports of the W800’s death were premature. When Kawasaki
circulated information that production would cease in 2017, the rumble
from around the world convinced them to perform the necessary updates
to ensure the continued existence of a hugely popular and practical
motorcycle that began life as the W650 20 years ago.
Kawasaki W800 Café
That old familiar feeling
TestJim Scaysbrook Photos Sue ScaysbrookMOTORCYCLES FOR THE MATURE RIDER
Apart fromthe capacity increase in
2011, not a lot has changed, until now.
The very latest model, the 2019 W800
Café, sports an entirely new frame as
a cure for the twitchiness of the earlier
version, which after all, was only really
evident when it was being exercised
very briskly. The new frame is more
heavily braced around the swinging
arm pivot area, and dimensionally
different elsewhere. I couldn’t fault it.
Whereas the earlier W800 came shod
with Dunlop K81 tyres with a 19 inch
front, the Café has 18 inch both ends
with Dunlop K300 GP tyres. This
pattern itself is 40 years old but theCappuccino, here I come.