Looking more like a classic Bonneville than Hinkley Triumph's offering, Kawasaki's retro W650 was designed to clean up in the Japanese market where the craze for Sixties style is still running strong.
But when pictures of the W650 trickled out of Japan there was a clamour from classic bike fans to have the bike imported to the UK. It soon developed a cult following with W650 clubs springing up around the world.
But when the bike was launched here in 1999 Kawasaki was keen to point out that they built the 676cc parallel twin as a homage to their own 1966 W1, a four-speed 650 with a claimed 50bhp that was a half decent copy of a BSA A10.
But where those old nails used pushrod engines, the W650 has a bevel drive to the single overhead camshaft - it runs in the chrome tube on the right side of the engine.
The crankshaft is a 360-degree design which allows the pistons to rise and fall together, with one cylinder on the compression stroke and the other on the exhaust stroke. There is a balance shaft to help eliminate vibration.
Modern touches include four valves per cylinder and constant velocity carbs. Kawasaki's integrated ignition control uses a throttle position sensor to vary ignition timing according to throttle position and engine rpm for crisp throttle response and better fuel efficiency.
The motor is really sweet, with 46bhp at 6900rpm. There's plenty of grunt to get you to 70 quickly and without fuss. Even the exhausts sound good.
The motor is rubber mounted in a classic (read 1960s) steel tube cradle frame with a square tube backbone. As you'd expect with a retro, the W650 has spoked wheels, with a 19in tyre on the front and an 18in on the rear. There is a drum brake at the back, but the single disc up front will be welcomed by classic bike fans.
Oh, and although there is a kickstart if you really want to play classic biker you get electric starting as well. There's modern for you.
