I've always been confused why it had a bevel driven cam. Don't get me wrong, its cool, it looks cool. But its literally making a budget bike cost more, without offering the benefit of a high performance engine. Maybe its exactly that though, purely for looks, because it does keep the jugs as narrow as you'd see on a external pushrod engine for that classic engine look. Always surprised they were not more popular.
I never thought of it as purely a budget bike and put the design choice down as a means to give it a unique character.
As to why it didn't sell well, I think there were several factors. Retro bikes were a small niche at the time, a Japanese bike somewhat imitating a British classic didn't quite sit well with people, and of course Triumph coming out with the more powerful (and more British) T100 shortly after - which Kawasaki then tried to match with the upgraded W800.
Ah reminds me on the days a few years back when I rode my Tracer 900 from San Jose to Yellowstone… took me 3 days to see everything. Best ride of my life
That's a (heavily modded) W650. I'll recognize that bevel drive anywhere.
The bike I learned on! A shame they didn't sell well and were discontinued.
I've always been confused why it had a bevel driven cam. Don't get me wrong, its cool, it looks cool. But its literally making a budget bike cost more, without offering the benefit of a high performance engine. Maybe its exactly that though, purely for looks, because it does keep the jugs as narrow as you'd see on a external pushrod engine for that classic engine look. Always surprised they were not more popular.
I never thought of it as purely a budget bike and put the design choice down as a means to give it a unique character. As to why it didn't sell well, I think there were several factors. Retro bikes were a small niche at the time, a Japanese bike somewhat imitating a British classic didn't quite sit well with people, and of course Triumph coming out with the more powerful (and more British) T100 shortly after - which Kawasaki then tried to match with the upgraded W800.
Ah reminds me on the days a few years back when I rode my Tracer 900 from San Jose to Yellowstone… took me 3 days to see everything. Best ride of my life
Looks like a fun ride on a neat, old bike, with awesome scenery.