Triumph/Kawasaki tie up????

[monsterman]

Triumph/Kawasaki tie up????
Several dealers and people within the4 motorcycle business including the supply chain have recently told me that Triumph has a secret partnership with Kawasaki who are reported to have a 49% equity stake in Triumph for at least 10 years and that some shared engine development has occured and that they share design data and components on certain models .A well as shared supply ofplastis , forks ,brakes and suspension etc.
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MONSTERMAN

 

[penetrator]

Or Triasaki.

Wouldn't be the first time Kawasaki have used design data from British bikes, except this time at least it would be by mutual consent rather than just a rip off copy.

Kawasaki W1 650:

BSA A10 650:

 

[KZ]

"Try a sake", good one!
I wonder which bike was more reliable, had better electrics and leaked less, the Kawa W1 or the BSA A10...
"Secret partnership" for over ten years that is not so secret...? Also 49%?
I don't believe it.

 

[KZ]

Kawasaki isn't around anymore...? -
I've read comparos between 650 Triumphs and the Yamaha XS650, mainly in british mags, none calling the XS the better bike...

 

[monsterman]

KZ wrote: Kawasaki isn't around anymore...? -
I've read comparos between 650 Triumphs and the Yamaha XS650, mainly in british mags, none calling the XS the better bike...

Having owned 5 Triumph Bonnevilles in th past and 4 Yamaha XS650s i can say with some authority that the Yamaha was the better machine especially in electrics and Engine areas , I bored out and stroked an XS to 850 and it was completely reliable ,non of the Bonnies would be for long.The Bonny needed constant repairs and fiddling the Yamahas did not.Quality of handling was better on standard late model Triumph but that was the only real advantage appart from the Name on the Tank.

 

[penetrator]

I'd put money on the Kwacker keeping hold of it's oil longer and having better lecky, but I'd also bet the old Beezer handled better. Early Kwackers had a deserved reputation for handling like their frames were "hinged in the middle" as a period magazine put it, rather odd being as rumour has it they copied and made improvements [sic] on the Norton featherbed frame.

 

[KZ]

I've had three XS650s, never had a Triumph, and they ran fine, never a problem. Handling was never an issue, it's not a racer anyways!