Kawasaki W650 650cc Review

Overall Rating

It looks like a classic bike but has the reliability and ease of ownership of a modern bike. It is well finished and has many standard features that are expensive extras on competitors.

Because of the designers desire to make it look right the bike is compromised by a few points. Things like the drum rear brake and the forks that could be more rigid.

I bought the W650 after a many year without a bike. I thought long and hard about what to buy. Since most of my recent riding had been farm work on light trail bikes, I thought that I should start on something mid-sized. I was thinking about a GS500 or an ER5 or ER6 on the one hand but was also considering a 650 trail bike like the DR650 or KLR650. I had read about the W650 but had hardly seen any on the road in Australia and the only one I had seen for sale in a magazine was too expensive.

One came up locally at a price that I was happy with so I raced out and bought it. I am very happy with it, it is easy to ride and has a nice torquey engine. It is no racer but I have found it does everything that I need. I am the member of the local Ulysses Club (for those who don't know this is a social club for the over 40's with an interest in bikes). We do regular day rides of about 350 kilometers, I often find that mine is the smallest bike in the fleet and despite carrying my wife as pillion we have no trouble keeping up. It cruises well, 4000 rpm is about 110 kph, 5000rpm about 140. I would like to fit a small flyscreen to it to make it a bit more comfortable at highway speeds.

This is the first bike that I have had that I actually enjoy cleaning. I think it is a thing of beauty.

Members' Comments onjmartyn's Review

• consterned on 13th Oct 2007

  I found this review helpful because I'm thinking of adding a windshield to my W650 also.