Harley-Davidson Top Chop Is a Panhead Ode to Copper, Brass and Nickel
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
Nowhere in the transportation industry is metal held in such high regard as in motorcycle manufacturing. When it comes to cars we tend to cover metal in all kinds of colors and paints, as if to hide it, but motorcycles, at least from time to time, proudly display their metal parts with no shame.
Sure, there are custom bikes that get painted extensively to cover most of their bodies, but the engine, for instance, almost always remains exposed in its metallic form. And their a sight to behold, because what are motorcycles if not an ode to carefully shaped metal?
The build in the gallery above takes pride in the materials it is made from. Sure, paint was used on it, but we’re not talking about colors that remind us of trees or the clear blue sky, but ones that scream metal: copper, brass, nickel, and of course chrome here and there.
Initially a 1957 Harley-Davidson EL, the bike was modified at the hands of German custom garage Thunderbike and turned into something they call Top Chop. The idea was to have a motorcycle tribute to the “glittering choppers of the 70s,” and for the most part the Germans succeeded.
Just like when it comes to the rest of the shop’s builds, this motorcycle here is packed with custom made parts (that are also available for purchase), ranging from the handlebar to the fuel tank – it is the tank that gives the name of the motorcycle.
At the core of the Top Chop’s frame sits a Panhead engine with Shovelhead looks, and gifted with a Magneto ignition and a Mikuni carburetor. We are not being told anything about the bike’s performances.
The Top Chop is of course a one-off build (an older one made by Thunderbike) meant to advertise both the engineering prowess of the Germans, and the parts they have in their shop for Harley owners.Health officials concerned about Iowa motorcycle rally: ‘We don’t want to be another Florida’
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Chris Gothner from https://www.kcci.com/
ALGONA, Iowa (AP) —
A group still plans to hold a three-day motorcycle rally in northern Iowa that’s expected to attract thousands of bikers despite the concerns of local officials that the event could spread the coronavirus.
Local officials usually welcome the annual Freedom Rally held on a farm northeast of Algona, but this year’s event planned for Thursday to Saturday has officials worried.
“We have a good relationship with them,” Algona Mayor Rick Murphy told the Des Moines Register. “The bikers are friendly. They’re fun to visit with. … But this year, everyone is a little more on edge.”
Algona is in Kossuth County, which has had 32 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no reported deaths, but officials think that could change because of the motorcycle rally, which typically draws 10,000 bikers.
The rally is organized by ABATE of Iowa as a fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which supports motorcycle safety and training. The annual rally was long held in Humboldt before moving in 2002 just north to Algona, a city of 5,400 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Mason City.
David Duffy, the ABATE state coordinator, said the group is encouraging social distancing and is calling for riders to limit trips into Algona.
“We’re taking all the precautions necessary to make this safe,” Duffy said.
The group’s website states that participants will have to sign a form that seeks to identify anyone who has been to a coronavirus hot spot and could exclude them from the event.
The website also notes Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations but adds, “social distancing is a suggestion by the CDC, not a law. This rally was created and called the Freedom Rally to promote freedom of choice. Attending is just that, freedom of choice.”
Large gatherings were banned earlier in the year but Gov. Kim Reynolds has allowed them to resume.
Murphy said he and other officials emailed the governor’s office to suggest she reconsider allowing large gatherings but didn’t hear back.
Asked about the message, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a text message, “We are not aware of this request.”
David Penton, the Kossuth County Emergency Management coordinator, said local officials are especially worried that after keeping cases low for months, the rally could lead to the disease spreading at a time when cases are rising in other states, such as Florida.
“People are a little discouraged that that could all be thrown into the wind,” Penton said. “We don’t want to be another Florida.”
Large motorcycle rally in N. Iowa worries local officials
from https://www.washingtontimes.com
ALGONA, Iowa (AP) – A group still plans to hold a three-day motorcycle rally in northern Iowa that’s expected to attract thousands of bikers despite the concerns of local officials that the event could spread the coronavirus.
Local officials usually welcome the annual Freedom Rally held on a farm northeast of Algona, but this year’s event planned for Thursday to Saturday has officials worried.
“We have a good relationship with them,” Algona Mayor Rick Murphy told the Des Moines Register. “The bikers are friendly. They’re fun to visit with. … But this year, everyone is a little more on edge.”
Algona is in Kossuth County, which has had 32 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no reported deaths, but officials think that could change because of the motorcycle rally, which typically draws 10,000 bikers.
The rally is organized by ABATE of Iowa as a fundraiser for the nonprofit group, which supports motorcycle safety and training. The annual rally was long held in Humboldt before moving in 2002 just north to Algona, a city of 5,400 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Mason City.
David Duffy, the ABATE state coordinator, said the group is encouraging social distancing and is calling for riders to limit trips into Algona.
“We’re taking all the precautions necessary to make this safe,” Duffy said.
The group’s website states that participants will have to sign a form that seeks to identify anyone who has been to a coronavirus hot spot and could exclude them from the event.
The website also notes Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations but adds, “social distancing is a suggestion by the CDC, not a law. This rally was created and called the Freedom Rally to promote freedom of choice. Attending is just that, freedom of choice.”
Large gatherings were banned earlier in the year but Gov. Kim Reynolds has allowed them to resume.
Murphy said he and other officials emailed the governor’s office to suggest she reconsider allowing large gatherings but didn’t hear back.
Asked about the message, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a text message, “We are not aware of this request.”
David Penton, the Kossuth County Emergency Management coordinator, said local officials are especially worried that after keeping cases low for months, the rally could lead to the disease spreading at a time when cases are rising in other states, such as Florida.
“People are a little discouraged that that could all be thrown into the wind,” Penton said. “We don’t want to be another Florida.”
The World Is Not Ready for a Suzuki Electric Motorcycle, Suzuki Says
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com
For the past couple of years, at the very least, we’ve been hearing the phrase “the electric revolution is coming” a lot. Suzuki Motorcycle has been hearing it too, but it’s yet to see actual signs of the arrival.
As of right now, electric motorcycle offers are scarce and leave a lot to be desired: those with prices in the same range as ICE counterparts underwhelm in terms of performance, and those that do deliver on the performance come with astronomical price tags. The market is not yet ready for an electric motorcycle, Suzuki has decided.
Speaking with the Financial Express, Suzuki VP of Marketing and Sales for India Devashish Handa says that the focus is not on an electric motorcycle right now. It’s not on new models, either, as the ongoing health crisis is forcing the maker to adapt to the new way of sales.
That doesn’t mean that Suzuki Motorcycle is not preparing for the electric, noiseless and pollution-free future we’ve been hearing so much about. It is; it’s just not ready to show us what it’s been working on.
“We are watching the space very carefully, but the journey of electric two-wheelers has not been consistent,” Handa says in the interview, which mostly focuses on Suzuki sales in the new, no-direct-personal-contact stage of our life. Video of the interview is available at the bottom of the page.
“The cost of acquisition in comparison to ICE vehicles continues to be a concern. As and when the buyer is ready, Suzuki will be present in the market as it already has the technology,” Handa adds.
In other words, e-bikes are too expensive right now and people aren’t buying them, so Suzuki won’t be making one. At least for the time being.
Harley-Davidson is perhaps the best example of a big bike manufacturer going down the electric route and stumbling across the premium price obstacle. A LiveWire is priced around $30,000, which has proved a major turn-off even for diehard H-D supporters. Clearly, Suzuki is not willing to take this chance, not in the current context of already low sales.
Prominent climate activist Shellenberger officially recants: ‘On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare’
By Bandit | | General Posts
Green Guru Michael Shellenberger, formerly Time Magazine’s “Hero of the Environment’: “On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem. I may seem like a strange person to be saying all of this. I have been a climate activist for 20 years and an environmentalist for 30.
But as an energy expert asked by Congress to provide objective expert testimony, and invited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to serve as Expert Reviewer of its next Assessment Report, I feel an obligation to apologize for how badly we environmentalists have misled the public.”
…
Some people will, when they read this imagine that I’m some right-wing anti-environmentalist. I’m not. At 17, I lived in Nicaragua to show solidarity with the Sandinista socialist revolution…I became an environmentalist at 16 when I threw a fundraiser for Rainforest Action Network…In my 30s I advocated renewables and successfully helped persuade the Obama administration to invest $90 billion into them…
Scientific institutions including WHO and IPCC have undermined their credibility through the repeated politicization of science.
Until last year, I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare. Partly that’s because I was embarrassed. After all, I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist…I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding.
But then, last year, things spiraled out of control. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said “The world is going to end in twelve years if we don’t address climate change.” Britain’s most high-profile environmental group claimed “Climate Change Kills Children.”
On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem.
Here are some facts few people know:
- Humans are not causing a “sixth mass extinction”
- The Amazon is not “the lungs of the world”
- Climate change is not making natural disasters worse
- Fires have declined 25% around the world since 2003
- The amount of land we use for meat — humankind’s biggest use of land — has declined by an area nearly as large as Alaska
- The build-up of wood fuel and more houses near forests, not climate change, explain why there are more, and more dangerous, fires in Australia and California
- Carbon emissions have been declining in rich nations for decades and peaked in Britain, Germany and France in the mid-seventies
- Adapting to life below sea level made the Netherlands rich not poor
- We produce 25% more food than we need and food surpluses will continue to rise as the world gets hotter
- Habitat loss and the direct killing of wild animals are bigger threats to species than climate change
- Wood fuel is far worse for people and wildlife than fossil fuels
- Preventing future pandemics requires more not less “industrial” agriculture
I know that the above facts will sound like “climate denialism” to many people. But that just shows the power of climate alarmism.
In reality, the above facts come from the best-available scientific studies, including those conducted by or accepted by the IPCC, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other leading scientific bodies.
At 23 I raised money for Guatemalan women’s cooperatives. In my early 20s I lived in the semi-Amazon doing research with small farmers fighting land invasions. At 26 I helped expose poor conditions at Nike factories in Asia.
At 27 I helped save the last unprotected ancient redwoods in California. Over the last few years I helped save enough nuclear plants from being replaced by fossil fuels to prevent a sharp increase in emissions
Until last year, I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare. Partly that’s because I was embarrassed. After all, I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist. For years, I referred to climate change as an “existential” threat to human civilization, and called it a “crisis.”
But mostly I was scared. I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding. The few times I summoned the courage to defend climate science from those who misrepresent it I suffered harsh consequences. And so I mostly stood by and did next to nothing as my fellow environmentalists terrified the public.
I even stood by as people in the White House and many in the news media tried to destroy the reputation and career of an outstanding scientist, good man, and friend of mine, Roger Pielke, Jr., a lifelong progressive Democrat and environmentalist who testified in favor of carbon regulations. Why did they do that? Because his research proves natural disasters aren’t getting worse.
But then, last year, things spiraled out of control.
Mainstream journalists reported, repeatedly, that the Amazon was “the lungs of the world,” and that deforestation was like a nuclear bomb going off.
As a result, half of the people surveyed around the world last year said they thought climate change would make humanity extinct. And in January, one out of five British children told pollsters they were having nightmares about climate change.
Whether or not you have children you must see how wrong this is. I admit I may be sensitive because I have a teenage daughter. After we talked about the science she was reassured. But her friends are deeply misinformed and thus, understandably, frightened.
I thus decided I had to speak out. I knew that writing a few articles wouldn’t be enough. I needed a book to properly lay out all of the evidence.
And so my formal apology for our fear-mongering comes in the form of my new book, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.
It is based on two decades of research and three decades of environmental activism. At 400 pages, with 100 of them endnotes, Apocalypse Never covers climate change, deforestation, plastic waste, species extinction, industrialization, meat, nuclear energy, and renewables.
Some highlights from the book:
- Factories and modern farming are the keys to human liberation and environmental progress
- The most important thing for saving the environment is producing more food, particularly meat, on less land
- The most important thing for reducing air pollution and carbon emissions is moving from wood to coal to petroleum to natural gas to uranium
- 100% renewables would require increasing the land used for energy from today’s 0.5% to 50%
- We should want cities, farms, and power plants to have higher, not lower, power densities
- Vegetarianism reduces one’s emissions by less than 4%
- Greenpeace didn’t save the whales, switching from whale oil to petroleum and palm oil did
- “Free-range” beef would require 20 times more land and produce 300% more emissions
- Greenpeace dogmatism worsened forest fragmentation of the Amazon
- The colonialist approach to gorilla conservation in the Congo produced a backlash that may have resulted in the killing of 250 elephants
Why were we all so misled?
In the final three chapters of Apocalypse Never I expose the financial, political, and ideological motivations. Environmental groups have accepted hundreds of millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests. Groups motivated by anti-humanist beliefs forced the World Bank to stop trying to end poverty and instead make poverty “sustainable.” And status anxiety, depression, and hostility to modern civilization are behind much of the alarmism
Once you realize just how badly misinformed we have been, often by people with plainly unsavory or unhealthy motivations, it is hard not to feel duped.
Will Apocalypse Never make any difference? There are certainly reasons to doubt it.
The news media have been making apocalyptic pronouncements about climate change since the late 1980s, and do not seem disposed to stop.
The ideology behind environmental alarmsim — Malthusianism — has been repeatedly debunked for 200 years and yet is more powerful than ever.
But there are also reasons to believe that environmental alarmism will, if not come to an end, have diminishing cultural power.
The coronavirus pandemic is an actual crisis that puts the climate “crisis” into perspective. Even if you think we have overreacted, Covid-19 has killed nearly 500,000 people and shattered economies around the globe.
Scientific institutions including WHO and IPCC have undermined their credibility through the repeated politicization of science. Their future existence and relevance depends on new leadership and serious reform.
Facts still matter, and social media is allowing for a wider range of new and independent voices to outcompete alarmist environmental journalists at legacy publications.
Nations are reorienting toward the national interest and away from Malthusianism and neoliberalism, which is good for nuclear and bad for renewables.
The evidence is overwhelming that our high-energy civilization is better for people and nature than the low-energy civilization that climate alarmists would return us to.
And the invitations I received from IPCC and Congress late last year, after I published a series of criticisms of climate alarmism, are signs of a growing openness to new thinking about climate change and the environment.
Another sign is the response to my book from climate scientists, conservationists, and environmental scholars. “Apocalypse Never is an extremely important book,” writes Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. “This may be the most important book on the environment ever written,” says one of the fathers of modern climate science Tom Wigley.
“We environmentalists condemn those with antithetical views of being ignorant of science and susceptible to confirmation bias,” wrote the former head of The Nature Conservancy, Steve McCormick. “But too often we are guilty of the same. Shellenberger offers ‘tough love:’ a challenge to entrenched orthodoxies and rigid, self-defeating mindsets. Apocalypse Never serves up occasionally stinging, but always well-crafted, evidence-based points of view that will help develop the ‘mental muscle’ we need to envision and design not only a hopeful, but an attainable, future.”
That is all I that I had hoped for in writing it. If you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ll agree that it’s perhaps not as strange as it seems that a lifelong environmentalist, progressive, and climate activist felt the need to speak out against the alarmism.
I further hope that you’ll accept my apology.
Aston Martin teamed up with a motorcycle maker to create one of the only turbo bikes in the world
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by klee@businessinsider.com (Kristen Lee) from https://news.yahoo.com
Aston Martin
- The AMB 001 is an upcoming bike created by Aston Martin and Brough Superior.
- It has a turbocharged motor, which is very unusual for a production motorcycle.
- Only 100 will be made and the starting MSRP is 108,000 Euros, or approximately $121,000.
The words “cheap” and “Aston Martin” don’t typically go together, so it’s of no surprise that the upcoming Aston Martin motorcycle is ludicrously expensive.
Aston Martin teamed up with the motorcycle company Brough Superior to create the upcoming AMB 001. It’s a sleek, futuristic-looking thing that seems way more appropriate for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 video game than our lowly reality.
The two companies are currently in the testing stages for their new bike. The specifications aren’t yet final, but a Wednesday press release says that the bike will produce a claimed 180 horsepower from a turbocharged, 88-degree V-twin engine.
The turbocharged aspect of the AMB001 is especially interesting, as the majority of production motorcycles — save for a few attempts by Japanese companies in the 1980s — are not turbocharged. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, as The Drive reports, packaging a turbocharger into a motorcycle is a difficult job. They add extra power and weight the bikes weren’t originally designed for. Turbos and all their related parts are bulky things and it’s not easy to fit them nicely on a bike.
Second, a turbocharged engine tends to produce very sudden torque. Cars, with four wide tires, are more suited to handle this. Bikes are not, so a sudden burst of power is more likely to spook the back tire and cause it to break loose uncontrollably, explains Cycle World.
Aston Martin, in response, says that the “modern turbine with low inertia is avoiding the turbo lag that was damageable on the Turbo motorcycle attempts from the ’80s.”
Aston Martin and Brough Superior will make just 100 examples of the AMG 001. They will start at 108,000 Euros, which is approximately $121,000.
Keep scrolling to see more.
The AMB 001 is the result of a partnership between Aston Martin and motorcycle company Brough Superior.
A key design feature is the aluminum “fin” that runs along the carbon-fiber gas tank, under the saddle, and onto the rear.
The rest of the bike is largely made from light-weight carbon fiber.
It’s unclear if the rider will be able to see the full gauge cluster with the fin appearing to block some of it. Also, it sort of seems like the gauge cluster is an iPhone. Business Insider has reached out to Aston Martin for clarification.
Aston Martin says the AMB 001 will produce a claimed 180 horsepower from a turbocharged engine.
Production motorcycles are not typically turbocharged. This makes the bike extra special.
Here, you can see it wearing the traditional Aston Martin camouflage livery.
And being tested at a track in Pau-Arnos, France.
The leather seats are as well-crafted as any car interior.
High quality leather and stitching were used.
No official weight figures are available yet, but Automobile Magazine says the AMB 001 will probably weigh “less than 600 pounds in final form.”
And that’s with all the turbocharger bits. Impressive.
Only 100 examples will be made.
Each will have a starting price of 108,000 Euros, or approximately $121,000.
Harley-Davidson Announces New Round of Job Cuts
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Eric Volkman from https://www.fool.com/
This is not the first time in 2020 the struggling motorcycle maker has reduced its workforce.
The economic pain wrought by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to affect Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG). The storied motorcycle maker said Thursday it’s cutting roughly 140 jobs in two factories, one located in Pennsylvania and the other in Wisconsin.
The move comes just after the company’s announcement that it’s reducing production volumes. As with many businesses across the economy, Harley-Davidson has suffered from softened demand for its products. “Stay in place” measures, which had been in force in the early part of the pandemic, will likely remain (or in certain cases, be reintroduced given the sharp increases in cases lately).
A representative from the company, however, told Reuters in a statement that, “As course of normal business, Harley-Davidson regularly adjusts its production plan and appropriately sizes its workforce.”
This is not the first time in recent months that the company has announced reductions in its employee rolls. In late April, it furloughed most of its production workers around the world as part of a broader set of measures aimed at coping with the economic slowdown. It also enacted a raft of salary cuts.
Even before the onset of the global crisis engendered by the coronavirus, Harley-Davidson had been struggling due to the aging of baby boomers, a crucial customer demographic for the company. Its sales were falling, with a 6% year-over-year drop in revenue in fiscal 2019.
Harley-Davidson didn’t end the week on a positive note. It fell harder than even the beleaguered main stock indexes and stumbling consumer goods names on the day, slipping by nearly 6.9%.
ABOUT THE COVID CONTROVERSY
By Bandit | | General Posts
Don’t know who wrote it, but it’s spot on.
–Sam Burns
Bikernet Contributor
Perspective:
WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT …
I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis.
For some that live alone they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters.
With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.
Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.
Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend.
Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.
Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.
Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don’t believe this is a big deal.
Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.
So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.
Realize that and be kind.
–Unknown author
Massachusetts DOT / RMV extends motorcycle safety inspection sticker deadline to July 31st !
By Bandit | | General Posts
RIDE don’t RUSH . . .
Massachusetts DOT / RMV extends motorcycle safety inspection sticker deadline to July 31st, resolving a recent lawsuit. No need to wait in line the next 3 days trying to find one of the 143 motorcycle inspection shops for you annual sticker –
An agreement was reached Friday afternoon to end a lawsuit filed June 24th by three citizen-biker activists / advocates* against the Governor, MA DOT Secretary and the Registrar, in their official capacities, seeking the extension for the more that 150,000 owners of motorcycles in Massachusetts. A hearing at the Lawrence Superior was scheduled for Monday, June 29th at 2:00, before June 30th deadline.
For a copy of the entire 27 pages of pleadings message see our web site. It cited delays caused by the COVID-19 shut-down for opening shops, social distancing, and the State having already extending car and trucks sticker deadlines to July 31st but motorcycles only to June 30th – the Agreement rectified that inequity for bikers and harm faced after June 30, after being stopped, cited, towed and over 5 years of insurance surcharges for expired stickers.
–Paul W. Cote
Bikers of Lesser Tolerence
AMA MA Chapter State Director
TONS of thanks to Sue Hart, Marc Teatum, Cindy VanVoorhis, Mike O’ Handley and Betsy Lister ! . . . and the local shops / dealers who gave us some stats .
Review: 2020 Kawasaki W800
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com
A legend brought back to life.
The 2019 show season was a good one for Kawasaki. Not only did Team Green unveil the Z H2 as well as the updated Ninja 1000 SE SX+ and 650, but it also teamed up with Bimota to create the polarizing Tesi H2 prototype. As though that wasn’t enough, the manufacturer also introduced the W800, a stripped down, entry-level version of the W800 Cafe.
I remember vividly the collective gasp we had when the model was first unveiled. The clean and simple lines were a hit among the RideApart team. I even remember being just a little upset about the U.S. and Canada getting the bike in red rather than in the gorgeous shade of green we saw in Tokyo. My disappointment didn’t last long, however, and by the time I picked one up from the Kawasaki HQ, it was completely crushed by how charming the bike actually looked. More on that later, let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
The year was 1965. While Americans and Russians were continuously outshining one another on the aerospace innovation front, Japanese and European motorcycle manufacturers had an ongoing Space Race of their own. Instead of reaching for the stars, however, the Big Four were competing for the title as the maker of the most powerful motorcycle on the market.
The early- to mid-60s were also formative years for newly-formed Kawasaki Motorcycle Co—a new competitor on the motorcycle scene born from the fusion of Kawasaki Aircraft Industry and Meguro Manufacturing Company in 1964. Thanks to the solid foundations provided by Meguro’s 30-year experience with motorcycles, it wasn’t long before Kawasaki introduced its first big displacement bike, the W1, in 1965. The 624cc parallel-twin is credited for putting Kawasaki on the map as a big bike maker and a serious competitor to Honda and Yamaha. The W1 was followed by the W2, then the W3 before the badge was ultimately dropped in 1975.
Fast-forward 24 years and Kawasaki revived the nametag just in time for the new millennium. In 1999, the W650 became Team Green’s attempt to take its share of the retro-revival cake, going up against an old-school heavyweight, the Triumph Bonneville. The model sold in North America for a meager two years before lame sales caused Kawasaki to pull the bike from the States and focus on the European and Japanese markets instead.
The reality of emissions standards soon caught up to Kawasaki and, by 2007, the manufacturer had to bid the W goodbye once again. Thankfully, the company didn’t wait another quarter of a century to revive the venerable badge. In 2011, it introduced the new and improved W800. The parallel-twin was fully overhauled a met the then current regulations. The fun lasted for another five years before the European Union came knocking once more with new regulations on emissions. This time, the turn-around was much faster and after a short year off the market, the W800 made a triumphant comeback in 2018.
Interestingly, instead of introducing an entry-level model first and following up with more elaborate version, Kawasaki did the opposite got the W ball rolling once again with the W800 Café. The entry-level W800 came the following year as a 2020 model-year. 55 years later, the W continues to roll out of the same plant that first produced the W1—talk about looping the loop.
| 2020 Kawasaki W800 | |
| Engine: | 773cc, four-stroke, parallel-twin |
| Transmission: | five-speed |
| Performance: | 52 hp/46 lb-ft |
| Brakes: | 1 x 320 mm disc with two-piston caliper front, 270 mm disc with two-piston caliper back |
| Suspension: | 41mm telescopic fork front, preload adjustable twin-shocks back |
| Wheels: | 100/90-19” front, 130/80-18” rear |
| Wheelbase: | 57.6 inches |
| Seat Height: | 31.1 inches |
| Weight: | 496 pounds |
| Price: | $9,199 |
If you like the look of the Kawasaki W800 in pictures, wait until you see it in person—I have yet to find a photo that does it justice. The W800 is a handsome bike. The proportions are elegant and Kawasaki found the right balance of chrome and black so that the bike doesn’t look like a disco ball. The manufacturer has been particularly attentive to the small details that give the model its tasteful but not tacky vintage look. Features such as the peashooter exhausts, the round turn signals, the braced fenders, and the exposed bevel-drive camshaft were borrowed from the original W, the one that started it all.
There’s no fluff or luxuries involved here—the W800 has standard ABS and that’s about as fancy as it gets. The two big dials at the center of the headstock are your analog speedometer and rpm gauge. There is a small digital display that shows mileage, trips, time, and such in the left-hand side dial and the usual panel of warning lights in the right-hand side one. There isn’t even a fuel gauge to let you monitor your progress. Just like on an older bike, you either have to do a bit of guessing or wait for the fuel warning to turn on.
As a standard, the W800 is your run of the mill, easy-to-get and to ride-on type of bike. The ergonomics are relaxed; for my 5’8” stature, the knees were at a comfortable, almost-90-degree bend and the straight handlebar is easy to reach without having to stretch the arms completely. This is as standard—and as comfortable—as this type of bike gets.
The Ride
If you’re looking for a bike that stands out with a particularly spicy or spunky personality, then chances are the W800 will feel a little underwhelming. Keep in mind that this isn’t a bike meant to be flashy—it plays the understated card and it plays it well. There’s beauty in simplicity, and while the W doesn’t have the spark of, say, a Z, it does have a few good things going for it.
The engine note is my favorite part. As the Kawasaki representative put it when I picked up the bike and did the walkaround, the bike has a really rich note at low rpm. Then, around the 5,000rpm mark, the grunting engine evens out and becomes as smooth as silk. Sure enough, I started the engine and a nice, musical rumble echoed out of the peashooters. Having to hear that aria in parallel-twin at every take-off definitely made city commuting a delight.
In the city, the W behaves impeccably—not even the addition of an occasional passenger fazes it. It’s nimble and easy to whirl around in an environment where obstacles and traffic lights abound. The stopping power provided by the single discs front and back was efficient without being too mushy or aggressive—a good middle ground for a standard bike that won’t try to buck you off the saddle.
Despite weighing a healthy 496 pounds, the bike is easy to maneuver at low speed, or even to walk out of a tight spot. The steering is breezy and light in the hand, you don’t have to wrestle it into submission or convince it to make a turn.
Once you get on the highway, you get acquainted with the bike’s only real flaw. At a certain speed, I could feel the front wheel buffet, a feeling exacerbated by speed. If you wish to put a few hundred miles on the factory tires (hey: they’re “free” tires!) then adjusting your speed accordingly, below the 70-mph mark will help for a while. If you’re willing to spend the extra money, a good set of radials can make the bike virtually perfect.
The engine itself is irreproachable at any speed. Even cruising at highway speeds felt effortless and I barely even touched the fifth gear—the mill happily purred away in fourth around the 6,000rpm mark. Power is easy to manage, the gears are long (you only get five instead of the now-standard six) and the throttle output is nice and gradual. The clutch is light under the fingers and the gears are smooth as butter—just make sure you give the lever a good kick shifting from first to second, the travel between the two seems a tad long which means I often ended up in Neutral. User error, probably.
The Conclusion
A small part of me thought the W800 would have a little more personality. Just a little something-something to give it more oomph, like with the other Kawasakis. However, I was wrong to expect that of the W because that’s not what the bike is for. It’s the celebration of a legacy rather than something revolutionary. Did I smile while riding it? I did, so in that regards, it fulfilled its mission.
The W800 is designed to be simple, straightforward, and mostly to play nice. In fact, it’s so well-mannered that I could easily recommend it as a starter bike. Think about it: it’s easy to maneuver and easy to control which also makes it easy to learn on without being overwhelmed.
Personality-wise, it might not be the right fit for me. That being said, if I could justify owning more than one bike, I would own a W for its looks alone. If you decide to buy one, be ready to have people come and ask you about it because they will. It seriously is that pretty.
Harley-Davidson Ego Shooter Is Not Your Usual Rocker
By Wayfarer | | General Posts
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
For the past 20 years or so, the European custom motorcycle segment has been flooded with Harley-Davidson based or inspired builds coming from Germany.
The group responsible for this onslaught is called Thunderbike and as part of our Two-Wheeler Month coverage in June we’ve talked about them at length over the past few weeks. Generally, we focused more on their most recent builds, but there are others, much older, that deserve their time under the spotlight.
For the end of this week we chose a build the Germans call Ego Shooter. It was first presented in 2011, at a time when the shop was half the age it is today. Unfortunately, we have no info on what happened to it since, but records, including photographs and a bizarre YouTube video (attached below) are still here to tell the bike’s story.
Built on a Softail Rocker base, the bike is described as “not exactly the first choice for custom friends.” The line was produced by the Milwaukee-based bike builder from 2008 to 2011, and it couldn’t have been more different than the variant portrayed in the gallery above.
As usual with all the Thunderbike builds we’ve covered, this one too is a mobile display of German imagination when it comes to custom parts. From the rear end that can move up and down thanks to an air suspension to the small fender at the front, all speak volumes about what stock Harleys can become in the right hands.
The exhaust system, air filter, pegs and handle fittings, fork, and the handlebar are just a few of the custom parts fitted on the motorcycle, all topped off by a custom paint job (containing more colors than we’re used to seeing when it comes to Thunderbike machines) that spells the name of the shop in massive letters on the fuel tank.