New Kawasaki 650 twin

[bakernks]

"Besides, you gonna' tell me that doctors and lawyers that go out and buy a Harley Night Train and then blow about another $10K on all the *required* "lifestyle" leather duds and doo-rags aren't chasing a bit of that childhood, too?"

No, I'm gonna tell you those guys are just idiots, give motorcycling an even worse rep, and generally cause us more grief than it's worth.

I've gotten to the point with these posers, I walk right up to them and ask them why in the world are they wearing Aunt Jemimah's scarf on their head. Idiots.

[Leno]

Why won't anybody make a sexy looking Naked bike without the Ninja 'lean-forward' sitting position, sans the bulbous (albeit sculpted) gas tank? There are plenty of us middle-age fat guys who would like a bike they don't want to be accused of seeking a "second childhood" on.

So you abuse your body for years so you can't sit on a bike and some how it's the fault of some poor little chap in Japan. I now understand why HD are so popular. "The bike for the belly in your life"

[Pat]

Re: Harley:

"The bike for the belly in your life"

Now THAT is funny.

But my laughing has set in motion a personal tsunami...... must..... calm...... down......, must...... stop ..... belly..... from ....... shaking.

[CycleRob]

I don't think the Kawi will compete with the new 800 BMW twins because the Kawi is chain drive and won't have the alternator output, heated grips and class of a BMW.

[Bry]

I hate spinners! in the moment of looking at a car thats in the intersection ahead, you doubletake as the wheels are appearing to move..... grrrr

bry

[Camfarm]

Rob,

Thanks for the thoughtful additional input.

Chain vs shaft - a true discriminator.

Electrical accessory reserves - year round usefulness.

BMW vs Kawazuki quality, reliability, cachet, market....

M

[Crash Davis]

I am anxious to compare the T800 and the 650R. Both appear to be fully faired entry sport tourers with ABS as an option. The T800 is supposed to be belt driven (a la F650 - not shaft) while the 650R is chain. With ABS, I would suspect that alternator output on both machines must be more than on a typical middleweight. According to the website http://www.er-6n.com, the Kaw also has a list of options for the naked version in Europe - might the faired version have similar list of options? I cannot wait to see (and try) them both on for size!