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Interesting motorcycles, not XS650
- Thread starter Kevin Werner
- Start date
Have seen that W650 before - quite an eyecatcher.
Here's a link to some more bikeexif W650s: https://www.bikeexif.com/tag/kawasaki-w650
Here's a link to some more bikeexif W650s: https://www.bikeexif.com/tag/kawasaki-w650
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Its new to me @Raymond; but yes a total eyeful.
www.bikeexif.com is where I found this today; trawling back through earlier stories.
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Nicely done!
Wow!
3-1 chambers? I'd love to hear it running! Love it!
As for HD, personally own a 2004 V-rod, late wife bought it for me for my 50th birthday because I fell in love with the first photo I saw of one.
Yeah, I'll admit it's not the perfect bike, there were teething problems it took a few years to work out, yeah it's heavy, handing with 37° rake is interesting.
HD never figured how to market it and the "hanky head" faithful never accepted it.
I've had and still have other bikes but still keep going back to it as my typical weekend mount. I've personalized the ergos for me and understand what it takes to hustle it around when I have an itch to do so.
I'm sorry to see the Street line of smaller bikes go by the wayside, again I think a lack of marketing. They were developed to headline their circle track efforts but couldn't seem to make them competitive against the Indians.
I've ridden the big twins but they're not for me and quite frankly the older I get the more I think about downsizing. My V-Rod tips probably over the 650 lb mark as equipped. And I've been having the itch for a smaller, lighter more nimble ride. HD just doesn't fit the bill and I think they priced the Street models too high for their designed market.
I've been looking at other new or newer bikes and several interest me for various reasons.
In the classic vein, the Kaw W800 and newer Z650 would work as would the RE 650 twin
For pure enjoyment I like the basic Indian FTR 1200 which I've seen as low as $11k new, Mid size Triumph triples also interest me between 660 and 800cc
Yeah, I'll admit it's not the perfect bike, there were teething problems it took a few years to work out, yeah it's heavy, handing with 37° rake is interesting.
HD never figured how to market it and the "hanky head" faithful never accepted it.
I've had and still have other bikes but still keep going back to it as my typical weekend mount. I've personalized the ergos for me and understand what it takes to hustle it around when I have an itch to do so.
I'm sorry to see the Street line of smaller bikes go by the wayside, again I think a lack of marketing. They were developed to headline their circle track efforts but couldn't seem to make them competitive against the Indians.
I've ridden the big twins but they're not for me and quite frankly the older I get the more I think about downsizing. My V-Rod tips probably over the 650 lb mark as equipped. And I've been having the itch for a smaller, lighter more nimble ride. HD just doesn't fit the bill and I think they priced the Street models too high for their designed market.
I've been looking at other new or newer bikes and several interest me for various reasons.
In the classic vein, the Kaw W800 and newer Z650 would work as would the RE 650 twin
For pure enjoyment I like the basic Indian FTR 1200 which I've seen as low as $11k new, Mid size Triumph triples also interest me between 660 and 800cc
Totally agree on H-D's piss poor marketing. I thought the Street series was a good idea, they were just too much $$$ for what you got. The V-Rod performed very well, it was never meant to appeal to the traditional H-D buyer (like me), and in the end I think that as much of a cool factor that it had, that market just kind of went away. That's the problem with chasing trends IMHO, today's hot thing is old news real soon (ask people that stood in line to buy Ford's last iteration of the T-Bird). Marketing is tricky to say the least. The Japanese Manufacturers, generally, are probably the best at it, plus so much of what they make is bullet proof, and yet I drive Fords and a Harley. Well, no one ever accused me of being the brightest crayon in the box.
The unique thing about the V-Rod though that has always surprised me, even today, when I stop somewhere that other bikers gather I get comments from guys that ride other Japanese or German brands that tell me they really like the engine and if HD had put it in more of a sport touring set-up they would likely have purchased one but the "Folded Taco" riding position and excess weight of the standard variant was a deterrent.
Yeah I rode one at a demo day and thought the same thing, wonderful motor, uncomfortable ergos, could’ve been a brilliant touring bike. I think that was a missed opportunity.
Yeah! I'm pretty tall. I found the ergos awful.
Proving that the suits at H-D have their heads up their....Exhaust. To paraphrase Marlon Brando "It coulda' been a contender"
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IIRC correctly, didn't Porsche design the V-Rod engine for H-D? What they put it in must've been down to the marketing & design depts.
