New W800 lovely ...cant wait till it comes to LOS

Oct 17, 2006
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I test rode a new Kawasaki W800 today in UK its £6500 here which is 360,000 baht its similar to old W650 no bigger but beautifully finished with an improved seat , fuel injection and 800cc motor , its much prettier than Triumph bonny and better proportioned too very nice sound from the engine , smooth and comfy , lowseat height very balanced too excellent handling , can reach 120mph fairly quickly ..i will definitly buy one in thailand to sit beside my Ducati as a nice cruiser tourer .
 

Rhodie

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Mar 5, 2006
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MCN's first ride review is similarly enthusiastic,
preferring it to the Bonnie even though in the UK it is a little more expensive.
 

KenYam

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Nov 2, 2007
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Yeah / yeah, never short of rumors about bikes in Thailand but after seeing Kawa's marketing and sales over the last 3 years you can't believe anything they say re models releasing into the Thai market. Look at the 650N then the 650F then the Verseys which was never coming here.

I personally hope the W800 is released here, its a bloody nice easy twin bike to enjoy here - it was said months ago by Kawa if W800 sold here, the bike would be same price as Vulcan 900 = 460,000 baht (as both are made in Japan) now they are selling in England for 6,600 pounds or 360,000 baht re Monsterman. I still think the Bonnie is a much nicer bike but Triumph's pricing here has stuffed themselves in my opinion, overpriced and eliticed.

My observations on the W800 package looks very appealing my wish list of modern changes would be - Belt drive main not chain, rider footpegs a little more forward and lower, mag wheels not spoke, 60 HP not 49, disc brake at rear and looks like it might need a oil cooler. I know its a retro bike but if I ride it regulary I want modern efficienct equipment.

Just my 2 bob's worth - cheers.
 
Dec 27, 2007
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A asked the sales staff at Kawa HQ and they know nothing about this bike. Not that that means anything ;-)

We'll have to wait and see if it's on display at the Bangkok Motor Show. Though last year they had a ZX6R on display and that's still not available from Kawasaki Thailand...
 
Oct 17, 2006
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the old W650 had 48-49HP the new 800 has 58-60hp according to the UK brochure and mor torque .
 
Nov 7, 2007
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TonyBKK;266033 wrote: A asked the sales staff at Kawa HQ and they know nothing about this bike. Not that that means anything ;-)

We'll have to wait and see if it's on display at the Bangkok Motor Show. Though last year they had a ZX6R on display and that's still not available from Kawasaki Thailand...
From all that I know they really wanted to bring the ZX-6R. It apparently got pulled at the last minute - could be any number of reasons; the rumored price always seemed to be very close to the ZX-10R. Or maybe they're waiting for another year and another 10% import tax drop due to the FTA. As smarter people than myself have pointed out, it's very hard if not impossible to substantially lower the price of an existing model. Messes up financing.
 
Dec 27, 2007
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nikster;266101 wrote: From all that I know they really wanted to bring the ZX-6R. It apparently got pulled at the last minute - could be any number of reasons; the rumored price always seemed to be very close to the ZX-10R. Or maybe they're waiting for another year and another 10% import tax drop due to the FTA. As smarter people than myself have pointed out, it's very hard if not impossible to substantially lower the price of an existing model. Messes up financing.

As I heard it, the ZX6R that was going to be sold in Thailand was to be restricted, similar to the ZX10R. The restricted ZX10R has sold terribly in Thailand despite it being by far the cheapest liter bike in the Kingdom. It's pretty clear from Kawasaki's failure with the restricted ZX10R in Thailand that the vast majority of buyers are willing to pay more for a FULL POWER bike. With that in mind Kawasaki decided NOT to introduce the restricted ZX6R for sale in Thailand. I give them an earful every time I visit the Kawa HQ- "Sell full power or don't sell at all."

Selling a restricted supersport bikes does a disservice to the Kawasaki brand.

The sales staff know this and since they don't work on commission they tell buyers straight up that if they want a full power ZX6R or ZX10R they should just go order one from Red Baron!

As for this W800. No one at Kawasaki HQ seems to have heard anything about it. Not that that really means anything, but when Kawasaki plans to introduce a new model to the Thai market they usually send a few demo bikes over at least a few months in advance so that the mechanics can start training on the new bike. Kawasaki Thailand has a policy that they will not allow dealers to sell bikes for which they do not have mechanics trained to service them. (I didn't say that very well, but hopefully you get my gist) ;-)

Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony
 
Nov 21, 2010
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Well trained or not at least the mechanics at the PTY-kawa-dealer are just refilling the oil at a service-check and actually do not check anything.

Chang Noi
 
Dec 27, 2007
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Captain_Slash;266150 wrote: Surely its got to be possible to quite easily derestrict the ZX10R

No, not cheap or easy at all. A new ECU, throttle bodies and exhaust are required to de-restrict the ZX10R. No big deal you might say until you discover that the wiring harness for the restricted model is significantly different and will not accept a full power ECU which means you need to tear out and replace the entire wiring harness before the bike can accept a full power ECU.

Believe me, plenty of racers have looked at the 650K Baht restricted ZX10R and tried to figure out if it would be cost effective to de-restrict it. The general consensus is that it's less expensive and less hassle to simply import a full power model.

Ride On!

Tony
 

Rhodie

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Mar 5, 2006
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TonyBKK;266160 wrote: No, not cheap or easy at all. A new ECU, throttle bodies and exhaust are required to de-restrict the ZX10R. No big deal you might say until you discover that the wiring harness for the restricted model is significantly different and will not accept a full power ECU which means you need to tear out and replace the entire wiring harness before the bike can accept a full power ECU.

Believe me, plenty of racers have looked at the 650K Baht restricted ZX10R and tried to figure out if it would be cost effective to de-restrict it. The general consensus is that it's less expensive and less hassle to simply import a full power model.

Ride On!

Tony
Very interesting info Tony.
Clearly 'tweaking/tuning/de-restricting' bikes are no longer the same to the days of old carbed superbikes' yore.
Do you know why Kawa Thailand choose to import the restricted version?
Cheers
Rhodie
 
Dec 27, 2007
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Rhodie;266177 wrote: Very interesting info Tony.
Clearly 'tweaking/tuning/de-restricting' bikes are no longer the same to the days of old carbed superbikes' yore.
Do you know why Kawa Thailand choose to import the restricted version?
Cheers
Rhodie

They claim they sell the restricted version because full power versions won't pass Thai emissions...

That really doesn't make much sense though since every other manufacturer in Thailand sells full power liter bikes...

Really not sure what the real reason is...
 
Mar 11, 2008
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Changnoi1;266141 wrote: Well trained or not at least the mechanics at the PTY-kawa-dealer are just refilling the oil at a service-check and actually do not check anything.

Chang Noi

Phukets one even failed that.. Mate checked his when he got home to find it was less than half full on an oil change !!

Love thats kwakers here but they really need a kick up the **** when it comes to anything 'service' related..
 
Oct 17, 2006
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There is a right way to do a job and a wrong way to do a job .....and in Thailand there is a 'Thai' way to do a job and its usually worse than the wrong way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Sep 8, 2009
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monsterman;266485 wrote: There is a right way to do a job and a wrong way to do a job .....and in Thailand there is a 'Thai' way to do a job and its usually worse than the wrong way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How true!! .. Took my Kawa 130ZX step through to MITYON to replace a return spring in the G/Box,returned 3 hours later a caught the "mechanic" tipping the old dirty oil back in .. I said what the F--- you doing ... he said no problem, TiT,
plus they tried to charge me for 1 lt of oil .... Lesson learned .... if you want something done properly do it yourself !!.
Have a nice day :)
 
Apr 20, 2009
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What a beautiful bike. I'd be in the market for this one too.
Kawasaki_W800_2011-green-cool3.jpg