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Could a Kawasaki W800 Street Accompany the Cafe in 2019?

More W800 Versions are Welcomed

Kawasaki has already committed to selling the W800 Cafe in the U.S., but not the W800 Steet. With that said, Motorcycle.com reported on some California Air Resources Board paperwork that suggests Kawasaki will sell the Street version of the bike in the States.

It is a slightly more laid-back version of the motorcycle. However, most of the specs will remain the same as the Cafe version.

Kawasaki just recently unveiled the W800 at EICMA. It has a 773cc air-cooled parallel twin engine that’s fuel injected and mated to a five-speed transmission. The W800 Street will obviously also get the bike’s double cradle frame and the same suspension setup and ABS brakes.

What Will Set the W800 Street Apart?

The W800 Street has a lower seat height of 30.3 inches, higher handlebars, and no bikini fairing. It also loses about four and a half pounds compared to the Cafe version. Aside from those changes, there aren’t many differences except in the styling department.

The paint schemes are different, with the W800 Street getting mostly black paint with a few silver and chrome accents. It’s a handsome machine overall. If the Cafe was a little too over-the-top for you, the W800 Street is the perfect compromise. I think it’s the better-looking bike.

2019 Kawasaki W800 Street
Image from Kawasaki

Kawasaki hasn’t committed to selling the Street version here. The CARB paperwork just suggests it will. This is a smart business move. It allows the company to sell the same bike to a wider audience, and give dealers another way to market the machine without having the carry parts for a whole new product.

I’m not complaining, though. The W800 is a cool bike, and I would love for Kawasaki to make as many versions of it as they can. No official word on price. The bike was confirmed in Canada. The Street version is a little cheaper than the Cafe version. You can expect to pay right around $9,000.

2019 Kawasaki W800 Street
Image from Kawasaki
2019 Kawasaki W800 Street
Image from Kawasaki
2019 Kawasaki W800 Street
Image from Kawasaki

The post Could a Kawasaki W800 Street Accompany the Cafe in 2019? appeared first on Web Bike World.

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bikes cafe cafe racer Cruising custom Honda Honda XR600 Other Motorcycle Blogs Randy Rothlisberger

Randy's Cafe XR600

Randy's Cafe XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 right side profile

Thumper: A four-stroke, single cylinder motorcycle.

Honda’s XR600 is a unique and awesome motorcycle. Unique like a family of rednecks, that is. Honda has made a handful of real similar thumpers, all a little different, but sharing the same basic DNA. The 600 was the big boy in this class, putting out just about too much power for the trails, being too big and heavy to jump, and still being just a little too tall and uncomfy for highway use. It’s always been known as THE baja bike, but hasn’t had too many places that it fits in quite as well.

Choosing this style of bike for a full cafe conversion is no new concept, and no small task. The stock bike is too tall, with a clunky tail section and gearing that is entirely too low. However the narrow frame, lightweight and torquey engine, and natural steering dynamics point the way to an awesome tracker/ cafe bike once the work is done.

Randy's Cafe XR600

Randy Rothlisberger

Randy riding a Honda thumper back in his hayday

Randy is one of those rare gems that possesses both incredible talent and humility. I met him out on the Hot Bike Tour in South Dakota last summer, at Klock Werks, where he works part-time as a fabricator. When he rode up on this bike, I nearly dropped my helmet. Being 6’4″ I have always had a soft spot for large displacement thumpers and the way they fit me. Being a hooligan, I have always drooled over torque monster that is that engine in that lightweight frame.

I don’t even remember what I said when I walked up to him, something along the lines of “Wha– Did yo– Is this your– XR600?! Ohmahgerdddd I love it,”

To which he responded, “Oh yeah, I like it. I built it in my garage with some parts I had lying around. Actually rides pretty nice!”

Randy Rothlisberger

Amber Hiles

Randy Rothlisberger in his home garage

You bet your sweet Honda that this thing rides pretty nice. The forks and brakes up front are Buell XB9R parts that have been machined to fit. The inverted forks lower the front end (a key part of the cafe conversion on this bike) as well as vastly improve the handling in the twisties. A massive disc brake on the front wheel gives this bike pro-street level stopping power, which it now has the rubber and suspension to handle. A rear wheel off of a Kawasaki Ninja 250 fit after a little bit of machining, but does wonders as far as giving the bike that pure street stance. The engine has more than enough power stock, but the airbox was removed and replaced with a K&N filter to help get that open triangle under the seat.

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Sara Liberte

Randy’s Cafe XR600 rear view

The exhaust pipe was fabricated at home using the factory headers and a muffler from Cone Engineering. A gas tank from a vintage Honda XL250 had it’s tunnel modified to fit the later model frame and the paint was all done in-house by Randy with some old paint that of course, he had laying around the shop. That wicked cafe seat is an aftermarket custom piece designed for a Honda 125. He used an old Klock Werks H-D fender with a few modifications on the rear and wired up a Trail Tech Vapor electronic speedo/ tach with a hand fabbed mounting system that he also made in his garage.

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 front left side

When we asked him for a few words about his bike, he listed all of the parts that he put on there and gave us this brilliantly Randy description:

“Starts easy (kick only) lights work well(no battery) handles quick and solid, brakes like nothing you’ve ever ridden (one finger advised first ride), have seen over 95mph with more to go (via GPS) and could easily pull taller gearing. Comfortable enough that you’ll go looking for curves ( I’m thinking it could own Iron Mountain Road in the Black Hills!) Took me about 3 mo to build at my garage at home.”

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 front right side

You don’t see a lot of build like this because there aren’t a lot of people like Randy. And if there are, they aren’t out there posting their bikes up on the web, they’re out hitting the twisties and building these machines to ride.

Randy Rothlisberger, you’re our type of guy. Making something incredible out of what you’ve got and riding the absolute crap out of it, even if you do live in South Dakota and have all that perfectly snowy riding weather (not).

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 right side detail

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 right side profile

Cafe Racer Honda XR600

Amber Hiles

Randy’s Cafe XR600 left side profile

As much as we wish we could give you a website to support this epic dude, we love that he doesn’t have one. This was one of the first projects for Amber Hiles as the new Photographer/ Media Guru over at Klock Werks and we couldn’t be more stoked with what she turned out, given the snowy South Dakota conditions. Head over to KustomBaggers.com to see more work from them and the other awesome people at Klock Werks.

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Yamaha Yard Built Bolt: 'The Face'

A “Cafe Bob” is a concept that sounds quite hard to pull off. But looking at the stance of Dirk Oehlerking’s ‘The Face’ Yamaha Bolt XV950, it all makes sense. Kingston Custom in Denmark produces a wide range of custom bikes, all of which have a beautiful attention to detail and manage to capture some essence of the original bike while having that same unique style that Dirk is known for: a talent unique to great artists and builders.

The XV950 is riddled with personal touches and unique details that make this bike stand out. One of my personal favorites being the goggle shield used as a small wind screen above the headlight: a trait that carries through several of Kingston’s builds. While many parts of this bike were a completely new style for this shop, there are some things like the spark plug sticking out of the custom triple trees that might as well be a hand-written signature.

“We are really impressed with the result,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe Product Manager Shun Miyazawa. “Dirk has taken the XV950 and shown that with no cutting or welding you can add a completely original look to the bike. What’s also very important for us is the fact that most of the custom parts developed and used for this build are available so anyone with an XV950 can create their own Kingston Customs ‘The Face’ look!”

To create the XV950 ‘The Face’, Dirk designed and built many parts in-house, including the cool, see-through ‘The Face’ style air filter cover and the custom hand stitched café racer seat. Kingston Custom designed and made parts also included the foot peg bracket, speedometer bracket, foot brake lever, gear-shift and unique MX visor screen.

A selection of quality aftermarket custom parts were also added, including LSL handlebars, Motogadget indicators, Highsider rear lights, LSL brake lines, Motogadget grips and genuine Yamaha YZ/WR footpegs. The XV stays connected to the ride with matching Shinko tyres with coloured sidewalls whilst Kingston Customs modified suspension and a Megaphon exhaust finishes off the look. The Yard Built is complete with a cool paint job sporting iconic Yamaha design.

For more information on Yamaha’s Yard Built program, click HERE

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John Player Special Sportster

Ooh the John Player Special. It’s legacy cemented in the annals of racing and the hearts of fans forever. The Lotus 79, one of many incarnations of the John Player Special race cars that have inspired more than their share of replicas and tributes.

But most projects built in the shadow of another tend to either lack originality, or not have enough custom work done to really seal the deal. This custom 1997 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL1200 suffers from none of those issues. As soon as I saw this bike, I picked up the phone to talk to Jarrod Del Prado, half of the team at DP Customs, about their wicked new John Player Sporty.

“We’re huge motorsports fans here at DP, and so are most of customers. Mario Andretti is our favorite race car driver of all time. We were lucky enough to see him score his last win in an IndyCar here at Phoenix International Raceway in 1993. So, as soon as our customer mentioned that he loved the classic JPS colors, we decided to go with a paint scheme inspired by Mario’s 1978 F1 championship winning Lotus-Ford.”

“This build began when a previous customer of ours contacted us for another bike. We had built him a hardtail bike called Hollywood and this time he was interested in a full suspension bike to squirt around on his local city streets.”

They handmade the front mounted oil tank, gas tank, and tail section, all out of steel, going for an overall lightweight and angular look. There is a Ballistic battery mounted in the tail section. The 19″ front and 18″ rear wheel were custom designed in house and the CNC’d to spec before being fitted with Pirelli Sport Demons. Their own DP Customs Box Pipe exhaust was installed. With tracker bars, risers, and aluminum throttle sleeve from Biltwell Inc., they set up the ISR adjustable hand controls and Chainsikle’s custom mids. The gauge at the bars is a Stach tachometer, adding to that classic look.

Braking is handled by Brembo calipers powered by the ISR master cylinders. Engine performance was improved with a Dynatek single fire ignition and coil, and a rebuilt and re-jetted CV carb. They did a chain conversion (from the Harley belt drive) and used a 51 tooth PBR rear sprocket for added spunk out of the hole. Handling was improved with rear 14″ fully adjustable 970 shocks by Progressive Suspension, and the front was stiffened up with Progressive Suspension springs along with Speed Merchant’s 39mm pre-load adjusters. The ultra clean paint work was done by Walkers Way in Mesa, AZ.

“The overall goal for the bike was to build something that’s really fun to ride on a daily basis, and that looks minimal and sharp. We feel like we accomplished the goal, and are very proud of how this one turned out!”

We completely agree, Jarrod and Justin! If you haven’t seen the incredible bikes that DP Customs is putting out, head over to DPCustoms.com and get an eyefull. We’re sure this isn’t the last bike we’ll feature from DP.