Which pretend classic is best? Kawasaki W650 or Triumph Bonne?

[tri boy]

try airhead beemers if you need more reliabilty.

Your taking the piss surely. Check some of the maintenance threads on adv or even here on the adv forum. Those clunkers are stripped and rebuilt very often.

As for posing on a new Bonnie, havn't seen a latte outlet on any of the hundreds of gravel roads/tracks the scrambler travels on. Pulling up at the Puhoi covered in dust and sculling a long neck makes the real posers on choppers and sprotbikes gag, to think such filthy scum should be allowed at a "bikers pub". God it feels good.
The Kawasaki is a nice all purpose bike, so is the new Bonnies. The 800 W looks OK, but I'm hanging out for the new Trumpy Triple adv bike.

[Voltaire]

Your taking the piss surely. Check some of the maintenance threads on adv or even here on the adv forum. Those clunkers are stripped and rebuilt very often.

Your so right...my 1970 BMW R75/5 had its motor rebuilt in 1986..then a couple of tours of Europe, once with a sidecar....had to adjust valves, check tyre pressures...probably due new exhaust valves by now

Mind you the later post 81 model build standard was not as solid.

[Motu]

60 hp

My 1983 750 twin Kawasaki made 55 hp.

Surely they could have easily gotten 70hp out of it and really stuck it to Triumph.

Another one who buys a bike by the specs sheet - HP,1/4mile time and top speed....are you American? It's a twin!! Bottom end,mid range and scream it all the way to 7,000rpm.That's another reason for the decline of the British bikes...all potential buyers wanted to see in the spec sheets was big HP and a fast 1/4mile time.It took the Japanese a long time to notice a niche market away from the HP race.

[pete376403]

...and the Kawasaki is a copy off a Kawasaki which is in turn a copy of a BSA......

The original W1-SS was purty. I could live with one of these.

[Edbear]

The original W1-SS was purty. I could live with one of these.

Me too, as long as you treated it as gently as an A7, the W1 650 did make improvements to some of the engine's shortcomings and a while ago won a comparison with the A7, or was it the A10?, in the UK.

I'll have to look it up again.

[AllanB]

Another one who buys a bike by the specs sheet - HP,1/4mile time and top speed....are you American? It's a twin!! Bottom end,mid range and scream it all the way to 7,000rpm.That's another reason for the decline of the British bikes...all potential buyers wanted to see in the spec sheets was big HP and a fast 1/4mile time.It took the Japanese a long time to notice a niche market away from the HP race.

No I'm not American, and you miss my point - I rode a 55hp twin for 23 years, I like parallel twins, - and although it was 'fun' a bit more would have been better. 70 is not much to ask surely out of 800cc of modern engine with a nice big torque increase as well. - in fact I have magazines lying around home with new Bonnies that have big bore kits in them producing this and a whole lot more torque and are proving reliable and every review states the same - Triumph please do this! Thunderbike in Nelson do a cam & pipe kit that give the Bonnie engine a welcome injection of personality. Ducati have been reliably offering more than this out of a twin of similar capacity, with the torque that is expected.

Triumph has made no attempt to produce a proper performance Bonnie engine - I hoped the Thruxton would have a hot-rod engine in it, but alas it was just another cosmetic change (how American is that!). I am still surprised they are not offering one - maybe they need a Triumph Screaming Eagle division - that's smart marketing for extra $.

I'd happily have another parallel twin as a 'keeper' for another 20 odd years (they make a great blank canvas to modify!) but I want one with a bit of kick in the engine department, if I wanted something to lug around town in high gears I'd get a Sporster.

[AllanB]

Had a look at the Triumph Website - I see the Thruxton is getting a claimed 68 hp now and the SE 66 - chuck a pipe on them (a Arrow from Triumphs catalogue) and you'll probably get my 70hp.

Now trim 20 plus kg off them and I'll be interested ................

Do I get a free Triumph T-shirt if I buy one?

[Voltaire]

My old Darmah is 860cc and 60 HP, surely a Triumph must be more than that?
I test rode Holeshots Bonnie last year and it didn't seem anywhere near as powerful....
or am I gettting power and noise confused

[Motu]

No I'm not American, and you miss my point -

I think you have missed the point of the W650 and W800 completely,I very much doubt it is the bike for you.The Indy Mile has just been won by a Kawasaki 650 twin,cleaning up the decades dominant Harley XR750,and the 900cc odd Ducati's and KTM's,plus some modern Triumph twins.To do that it's got to be putting out around 100hp....so why can't Kawasaki do that with the W800? If you have to ask that you are not in the market for a W800.

[tri boy]

Fookin aye
Mucho respecto

[trustme]

I suspect it is a Ninja or what we would call an ER6 motor, built by Bill Werner who is no slouch at building flat trackers.
http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgur...ed=0CCEQ9QEwAw

Still tasty.

[Motu]

It's using the standard frame too...although I doubt it's completely standard.Werner calls it a junkyard bike,using second hand parts,and he reckons he hardly touches the engines...unlike the XR750's.Bill Werner would be one of the most knowledgeable tuners in flattrack - his bikes took Scott Parker to nine titles.He's not winging it with this junkyard bike,it's all part of a plan....5 years in the making.

[Mully Clown]

Had a look at the Triumph Website - I see the Thruxton is getting a claimed 68 hp now and the SE 66 - chuck a pipe on them (a Arrow from Triumphs catalogue) and you'll probably get my 70hp.

Now trim 20 plus kg off them and I'll be interested ................

Do I get a free Triumph T-shirt if I buy one?

Well once you put the Arrow pipes on you've probably shaved off half of your 20kg. Little bit more if you grab the 2-1 as well.

[shafty]

Just to reply to the original post. I have owned a 2005 W650 (Jap domestic model, grey import) for the past year in which time I have put about 10,000km on it via a mixture of daily commuting in Auckland and weekend trips out to the west coast, the Coromandel and Taupo.
I am a returning biker after a lay off of about 15 years (kids you know, nowhere to put a baby seat etc) and have found the W to be the perfect bike for me. I first saw one a couple of years ago when working in Thailand – my mate had bought one and it reminded me of those late 60’s Brit bikes that I always dreamed of owning. I have always had a hankering for a 1965 Triumph Tiger twin and the W had the same no-nonsense, no frills look but seem to offer the promise of less mechanical input per mile.
And this has proved to be the case. The bike is plenty fast enough for me, comfortable cruising on the motorway at 110kmph (any faster and the wind blast is a killer, although I did have it up to 145 kmph just for the fun of it but it was a one off!) The bike goes round corners pretty well as far as I am concerned – though I am sure not as well as modern race style bikes – in fact it reminds me of the XS650 I owned back in 1989. The major difference is the lack of vibration on the W. The XS was so bad it wobbled your eyeballs at traffic lights and blurred your vision! The vibes are there on the W but understated. The bike pulls strongly from tickover to redline with no step and sounds pretty good (if a bit quiet). Brakes are adequate for the performance, though the rear drum is a bit dead feeling.
I did consider trading it in for a Triumph and took a 2005 T100 for a test ride. To be honest, the Triumph felt more mass produced and Jap than the Kawa strangely enough. I changed my mind on the trade in and stuck with the kawa! IMHO the W is better looking anyway, the proportions are better and it just looks less cluttered and of course there is that bevel drive that sets it apart from the rest....
Overall then, it is an easy bike with a bit of character. Cheap to run (65+ mpg) and maintain – I change my own oil, filters etc and do the valves (dead easy due to sliding rockers and shims) and I am mechanically inept! Would definitely recommend it.
Oh, if you do get one, get used to old fellas coming over all misty eyed and reminiscing about the old Speed Twin they used to have in Invercargill back in the day.....

Cool, throw up a pic of your ride on here or on your profile......

[AllanB]

I think we just have different expectations from a Bonnie or W800. Sure they are nice retro looking rides and Triumph has done very well out of this model but they are missing the market segment that I fall into.
I’m not a born-again rider returning after 25 years who wants to ease back into biking, and I’m not old enough to settle into a 90kmph cruiser yet plus I don’t want to wear rose tinted glasses and pretend I’m back in my glory-days.

I don’t want a commuter bike – I’ll get a GS500 or similar for that – I do not need 150hp of power, but I do desire a engine with a bit of a kick and excitement, one that is not described as ‘adequate’. I want to ride that fat midrange like I presently do on my Hornet.

I want a ‘hot-rod’ Bonnie. Harley have done it to global acclaim with the XR1200, I fail to see why Triumph do not produce a ‘XR’ 990 Bonnie. I’d prefer this over either a Ducati or the Harley.

Still – I’m winning Big Wednesday tonight and I’ll ship a new bonnie engine in a crate to that Norman Hyde chap to ‘fix’ for me with Wiseco pistons etc. Robert T can sort the rear suspenders, and I’ll graft on a decent dual brake front end. After that it is subtle cosmetic changes and I'll be sweet.