The Official Video of KAWASAKI W800

What is it with Classics making a big time come back? Triumph with their 'Classics' series has never left the scene, neither has Ducati with their 'Sport Classic GT', Honda is making a comeback with their 'CB1100', so is Yamaha with the Sakura and Royal Enfield with the 'Classic 500'. Well then can Kawasaki be far behind? Actually they always had the 'W650' (2004 & 2005 model), but some time back, the motorcycle stopped production only to make way for the 'W800'. The W800 looks a lot like the RE Classic 500 which in fact is a great compliment in itself. Anyway, for us classic suckers, the more the merrier! And Kawasaki has released the official video for W800. Superb video and what a looker! Enjoy!

Here is the official link to Kawasaki W800.

The CB1100 Cafe Racer... In Motion

One of the world's most beautiful looking bike... in Action

The Magnificent NORTON Commando 961: Reinventing Steel

Nothing like a classic, eh! A NORTON, original, factory built, just like they used to make it, but completely new from the factory. Now, wait, look at that price, it is priced at 15 995 £/ 25, 999 $, it is almost equal to the MV Agustas and sure crossing most of the Ducatis, how can they price it so high for a air cooled machine which is actually a 80s bike in totality? And not that it is going to outrun any bike in its category or even be able to provide the comfort and handling of the new age Jap or Italain bikes…
Okay, if you are thinking along those lines, you sure shouldn’t read any further and maybe you can look at some other posts. But now think! Imagine a movie, a Bruce Lee movie or a Charlie Chaplin movie which has been hiding under some dark places and now discovered again and has been digitalized to give a new look. It is not a new movie, it is an old movie but you know, it has got the digital treatment, say bright colours, better sound and all. And now think of the new computer generated blockbuster movies like 2012 or Matrix or the likes. Which movie would you prefer if the ticket costs are also equal? If you would go for the Charlie Chaplin or Bruce Lee movie, than you know why Norton can afford to make a 80s bike now. This is a Norton, period. You know MV and Ducati will keep on churning out brilliant bikes in the future just as Hollywood would keep on giving blockbuster hits, but what are the chances of you getting a hold of a rare Charlie Chaplin or Bruce Lee movie?

So, this is a Norton, period. Money has probably got nothing to do with it. What one should realize is that you can get to buy a brand new Norton, you can now buy a new Norton, you can ride a new Norton that is factory built. I know I am repeating, but do you realize that you can actually ride a new factory built Norton, yes, a never before seen Bruce Lee film has just opened in a cinema near you!
And you know what? This Norton is just too damn good, we will get to the too damn good part, what I mean is when you talk about something like Nortons, you don’t talk about money. Okay, if you are still reading the post, I believe you are a sucker for British bikes like me and so now we are on the same page.
Norton is by far the most historic and famous brand coming from the land of the Queen with due respect to modern brands like Triumph and legends like Vincent and BSA. Although it never would have mattered which motorcycle Norton relaunches, but we are oh-so-thankful that it is the greatest bike from the Norton stables, the COMMANDO.

This is the new Commando, the 961 SE and Norton although has long announced of its intention to unleash the beauty a long time ago, it was only a couple of weeks back that they finally ended our anticipation and for waiting us so long, they have given us something extra. The Norton Commando 961SE will come out or has come out has in three new models, the Standard version, the Sport version and the Café Racer version. Really cannot say which looks better, actually I guess you never compare a Norton with another Norton. Look at the headlamp, look at the side panels, look at that b-e-a-u-tiful belly and look at that sexy rear and… and look at the simple elegant exhaust and will you take a look at the overall all-metal-no-plastic beauty, this is as close as you can get to memories, thank you Norton. Just for your information, even if you plan to buy the S.E, you can’t, it is already sold out! But there is another good news, the Café Racer is cheaper at 13, 495 £ or 21, 935 $ while the Sport version is even cheaper at 11 995 £ or 19 500 $.
Watch the videos slowly and repeatedly. You will keep on falling in love all over again. I have… I have. Have you heard its voice? Oh… the legendary exhaust is back. If you think I am overdoing it a bit, then I am probably because I have not seen many legends being resurrected. Quite often, there have been talks, but nothing finally happens. And now that finally something has finally happened, it is time to rejoice. The first video is a Norton home video and its DVD is available free here and the second video posted here is covered by MCN, a British magazine which maybe partial to the Norton being a British bike. Good, because it is much better than a critic who would probably laugh off at the beauty comparing its price to what it is offering.

All three models will of course have the same base. The air cooled 961 cc twin develops a healthy 80 bhp @ 6500rpm and a very respectable torque figure of 90 Nm @ 5300rpm. Not by any standards are they chart topping and they are not even intended to be. According to the reports, the Commando has more than enough low end grunt at even 2000rpm to zip and zoom in city traffic. The engine features an absolutely linear power delivery, which means it'll take any gear you throw at it. With 80bhp on tap from a 961cc engine, you can easily cruise the city at over a ton mark if you can get that much of a space inside the city to wriggle your right hand at the throttle. From the city limits to the scenery beauties and beyond, you can happily keep on cruising at the ton mark and that is the whole story of the bike. This is a practical bike which will satisfy you every way you want and its power is what makes it practical – useable. All 3 bikes as mentioned carry the same traits. It has a steel tubular frame with a twin-sided steel construction swingarm. Rake is 24.5 degrees and trail is 99mm with a wheelbase of 1420mm and seat height of 813 mm. Front suspensions is 43mm Ohlins with adjustable preload, compression damping while at the rear. It is Ohlins again, reservoir-style twin shocks with adjustable ride height. Front wheel size is 3.50 x 17” with chrome rim while the rear is 5.0 x 17” also with chrome Rim. Transmission is via five-speed cassette-type gear cluster is thoroughly modern and supported by an electric start. Front brakes are full Brembo system, twin Brembo 320mm semi-floating while the rear brake has a single Brembo 220mm disc with 2 piston “Gold Line” caliper. Dry weight of the bike is 188 kilos. Special features in the S.E are the carbon pack used on the front mud guard, chain guard, rear wheel hugger and the headlight mounting. For the Café Racer, you get clip on handlebars, black anodized billet yokes in the steering in place of fully machined billet yokes with triple clamp lower yokes as available in the other two versions and you get a Café Racer fly screen.

The Sport, CR, S.E and the 'Original'

Of course, you would sit ‘on’ the bike as you do on most classics, but having said that if you look at the stance in the video, you would notice it has a mixed stance of sporty handling yet not very forward bending, just right, enough for sharp handling, flickable which no way is going to strain your shoulder blades and all this is supported by some extraordinary suspension and brakes. Everything you see on it from the switchgear, lights, panels, wheels, everything is top notch, especially in the S.E, Special Edition, and that is the reason of the substantially higher price than the Sports and Café Racer version. All materials used is top quality and for a fact you still see Nortons of the 60s and 70s very easily running on the roads with little modification, so reliability is not even in question here.
As you see it, this is a classic, so you won’t get the ‘equipments’ and good for it, it stays true to the memories. The Norton motorcycles were always naked and the tradition continues with no plastic fairings of any kind, no luggage carrier either, just muscles and bones, a true show-off!

It is so British that you would forget the fact that all this restoration, all this bring back to the classic mode, a lot of credit goes to an American, Mr. Kenny Dreer who specializes in Norton rebuilds in his company firm, Vintage Rebuilds. Although I am not so sure about it, but the 961 seems to derive a lot from Kenny’s prototype. Maybe Kenny was behind the factory production, I don’t know about that. Kenny’s Commando was named 952 but it incidentally was of 961cc, with 5 gears and also displacing the same power and torque figures. The original Commando of the 70s displaced 828cc, had 4 gears and had a power output of 51 bhp @ 6250 rpm. What Kenny improvised on that is exactly what you get on the new 961.
The new Commando has the original authentic appearance and a mechanically similar general concept for its vertically split, air/oil-cooled dry-sump engine, with its forward-canted cylinders, pushrod valve gear and two valves per cylinder and so carries forward virtually every trait of the original including the authentic Smiths look.

This is a machine which you will take to the office even if your office is 2 kilometers away, just to show off that you have a Norton, this is the bike you will love to give your brother a ride because you know he will enjoy it, this is a bike your fiancé/ girlfriend/ wife will love to get in the pillion because it is so addictive and this is the bike that will cool your head at 2 am midnight just by looking at it if you happen to have a fight with your partner or even your boss. And the other thing is that these machines are largely hand built and with a steep price in comparison, not too many are going to be built anyway, so anyway you look at it, all these new Nortons are only going to get more costly in the used market some 20 - 30 years from now on. At that price, it doesn’t have any path breaking performance, but come to think about it, why do we associate price with performance, we can associate price with so many other things just like the moments you can spend on a Norton as mentioned in this para. As I said, this is like the old Bruce Lee or Charlie Chaplin movie, you know what it is going to be there (lots of laugh with Chaplin, lots of action with Lee and lots of boastful ego with the Norton) and you find exactly that, there are no surprises and that is the good thing because surprises can also be shocks sometimes, but when you get what you expected, you will be happy and this is what the Norton is all about. It will make you happy. Bad news is that except for Great Britain, it is available only in U.S and Canada.

Photo credits to NORTON MOTORCYCLE Official Webpage. Some photos as watermarked belong to London Bikers. Source of information is Norton Motorcyclers website. Visit the website for a look at the history and information on the company. You can also visit the three models from these links, 961 S.E, Sport and Cafe Racer.
Specifications:

- Engine: 961cc, air cooled, parallel twin with push-rod valve actuation, dry sump, 2 valves per cylinder
- Bore x stroke: 88mm x 79mm
- Compression ratio: 10.1:1
- Power: 80PS @ 6500RPM
- Torque: 90Nm @ 5200RPM
- Gear box: constant mesh 5 speed
- Final drive: 525 “O” ring chain
- Clutch: Wet multi-plate
- Electric start
- Front & Rear brakes: Twin Brembo 320mm semi-floating hi carbon stainless steel discs, Brembo 4 piston “Gold Line”axial callipers & Single Brembo 220mm disc, Brembo 2 piston “Gold Line” calliper
- Frame: Steel tubular with integral oil tank
- Swing arm: Twin-sided steel construction
- Wheelbase: 1420mm (55.9 in)
- Rake & Trail: 24.5 degrees & 99mm (3.9 in)
- Front & Rear suspension: 43mm Ohlins RWU - Adjustable preload, compression damping & Ohlins reservoir-style twin shocks - Adjustable ride height
- Front & Rear wheel: 36 spoke 3.50 x 17” & 40 spoke 5.0 x 17” (Both Chrome Rim)
- Front & Rear tyre: 120/70 x 17” & 180/55 x 17”
- Fuel tank capacity: 17 litres (4.5 US gallon)
- Dry weight: 188kg (414.5 lbs)
- Seat height: 813mm (32 in)

Visual Gratification - The New Age Retro HONDA CB 1100 Series

In bigger size and better resolution, to decorate your PC screen. Images are of 1280x960 size

For more info on related post, read here. Additional previous posts are available here and here.

It Is Finally Here! The long awaited CB1100

There is a reason why MCN is the favorite motorcycle magazinefor many bikers like us. It is always there first, every scoop, every test ride, every review, every imaginable comparision, they are always or usually the first one to do so. And this time they have got the scoop on the long awaited HONDA CB1100. This is the most beautiful to-be-launched bike and definitely one of the most beautiful retro naked bikes to be launched or in production. Calling DUCATI Sports Classic and TRIUMPH Thruxton, now you have some serious competition!
A lot of bikers (including me) has for long salivated on the drooling killer looks of the New-Age Retro which is a complete take on Café Racers.

MCN has posted the following in the ‘News’ item as of today (30th September).
Following is the copy paste version as what has appeared in MCN.

These leaked pictures finally reveal the production-spec Honda CB1100 plus an unseen café-racer concept. The two CB1100s will be revealed officially at the Tokyo show next week alongside an electric Cub step-through prototype and a touring version of the automatic DN-01.
No information is available yet – though it’s clear the CB1100 uses a slightly different engine to the prototype which is believed to be physically larger. The wheels have changed, and the stylised calipers of the concept bike have also made way for standard Nissin four-piston calipers. But overall the look is very similar to the 2007 concept. The CB1100 Customise Concept is based on the same parts, but demonstrates the possibility for period-style customisation. It’s unlikely the bike will be made as a stand alone model, but it is possible that Honda will offer all or some of the parts for owners to create the bike themselves.
The DN-01 Touring Concept is also just a concept – but expect to see the parts go on sale for owners to add long-distance practicality to the quirky auto cruiser.
The electric Cub is the smallest of the new machines – but while it is just a concept now, the production version could be one of Honda’s most important machines since the original Cub. Eco-friendly motorcycles are set to become big business – and Honda is clearly looking to make the technology more accessible.

Original Source of photos and infos: Of course MCN
I have also posted two other posts of the CB1100 in the blog which you can find here and here.

MOTO MORINI 1200 Scrambler - The Allrounder

When you are a teen and of course probably at any age, you have the love-at-first-sight syndrome when you see a beautiful girl and even though you don’t know her name, you just want to take her for a date, know her and probably later take her to your parents and say that she is going to be their daughter in law. All this happens in an instant even before the girl knows that you exist. Well, with the Moto Morini 1200 Scrambler, it’s something similar. Once look at the big V-Twin lump in a scrambler frame and you know you are being hit by nostalgia. This lesser known (shouldn’t say known, more like lesser publicized) firm from Italy probably is the only other company beside Triumph who has a scrambler in their production line up. This beautiful machine evokes memories of the 60s and 70s when you would find Triumph and other English scramblers everywhere. Scramblers in a way are the definition of freedom. Think about it, all the fun of a motocross bike (with its qualities agility and ease of handling) in a street bike (with its qualities like style with a big engine to perform).

The Morini Scrambler is based on the 9 ½ and that’s about it as far as the similarity goes. Look at those 19” front wheel and the tread blocked tyres and you know whether its asphalt, cobblestone or just your bylanes, you will be never out of sync. The styling designed by Marabese Design is a direct throwback to the 60s and beneath it lays a very modern machine. Big 21 litres engine with indents for pressing your legs, that big round headlamp with the small fairing, the single piece seat and those oh-so-sexy exhausts! That Ducati style trellis frame, exposed big lump of an engine, the cantilever suspension with the aluminum swingarm just completes the total package. The instrument panel is a mix of Electronic/ analogical rev counter and speedometer with multifunctional LCD display. This is a new-age retro scrambler.
So, what about the engine? Morini has just once engine doing duty on all their bikes. It’s just better tuned accordingly to suit the bike profile, Even the Granpasso, Corsaro and 9 ½ shares the same 1187 cc V-Twin engine as does this naked liquid cooled beauty. It is the Corsacorta Bailbero twin cylinder engine designed by Franco Lambertini. The big V-Twin can develop a very healthy 140 hp @ 8500 rpm with even more impressive torque figure of 123Nm @ 6500 rpm. The compact motor has a 87o and has a one piece crankcase. This helps in dismantling the pistons and cylinders without opening the crankcase. The engine of the Scrambler has been tuned to belt out still a very capable 117 hp and 102 Nm. So you see with all that horsepower, it’s not just show, it’s all go.

The Scrambler was first shown at the EICMA 2008 along with the debut of the 1200 Sport. A just like a Scrambler should, it has all the details of a very good handling over whatever hills and sand dunes you can throw at it. 50mm USD Marzocchi fork, adjustable monoshock, Brembo brakes, 19-inch (front) and 17-inch (rear) wheels with tubeless Michelin rubber and you know you have a very good all rounder. This is really a perfect very well blended match between naked street bike and an enduro in the asthethic 60s styling with a very modern heart. Of course it also has the signature of the Marabese design to add to it.So if you are looking for a big all rounder for daily use, you know another option now. Problem is whether it’s available anywhere except Europe. All I could find is that it has distributors over Europe, but whether it is available in U.S and other parts of the world, I am not too sure. I believe the Granpasso is for the U.S market, so probably with dealers of Morini, you can expect the Scrambler too. The dealers’ link shows Japan, Australia and new Zealand as the only other countries. Anyway, once you get it, there will be a host of features to accessorize the bike. Just look at the link and you will see there are a dozen of different bags for your outing, there are two sets of seats including a lowered one. Heated grips, tank cover, etc and all these to satisfy your travelling hunger. You can also accessorize the body, the chassis, the exhaust and even the engine. It’s a exhaustive list so rest assured, you can customize it anyway you want it, so how about black steel grills to protect the front headlight and an alloy skid plate that covers the exhaust down pipe? Colour options are the one visible here white with red and black.

Specifications

Engine: DOHC, 1187 cc, Liquid cooled 2 cylinder, 87° V Twin, 4 stroke, 4 valves per cyl

Bore x stroke & Compression ratio: 107 x 66 mm / 4,21 x 2,59 inch & 12.5:1:

Power & Torque:117 HP @ 8500 rpm & 102 Nm @ 6700 rpm

Fuel system: Marelli indirect electronic injection

Ignition & Starting: I.A.W. electronic & Electric

Gearbox & Final drive: 6 speed With constant mesh spur gears & Chain

Exhaust: Silencer, 3-way catalytic converter with oxygen sensor

Frame: Verlicchi high-strength steel tube trellis frame

Front & Rear suspension: Marzocchi upside-down fork with 50 mm / 1,96 inch & Single lateral shock absorber with fully adjustable piggy back tank

Front & Rear wheel travel: 155 mm / 6,10 inch & 190 mm / 7,48 inch

Front & Rear brake: Brembo 298 mm / 11,73 inch double disc with 2 - piston callipers & Brembo 250 mm / 9,84 inch single disc with 2-piston calliper

Front & Rear tyres: 110/80 R19 Tubeless & 150/70 R17 Tubeless

Rims: Excel spoke rims with aluminium channel

Front & Rear rim size: MT 2.50 x 19” & MT 4.25 x 17”

Total length & Wheelbase: 2180 mm / 85,82 inch & 1500 mm

Seat height: 840 mm / 33,07 inch

Ground clearance: 162 mm / 6,37 inch

Dry weight: 198 Kg / 440 lbs

Tank & Reserve capacity: 21 litres & 4.5 litres

Visit the Moto Morini Official website and the Moto Morini UK website. And if you really want to look at the bikes from all possible angles, visit Motoblog Italy as it has over 40 pictures.