Wait Until You See This Cool New Kawasaki W800 Color Scheme

Tuck and roll and gold.

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jun 8, 2024 at 10:46am ET

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If you love the retro-modern aesthetic, then chances are more than fair that you're into Kawasaki's W800. After all, it's got the simple, unfussy good looks of a classic, with its chrome front fender, spoked wheels, and tuck-and-roll two-person saddle with contrasting piping.

And, at the same time as all that, it also has modern conveniences like ABS and an assisted slipper clutch. It's also fuel-injected. You know, like a thoroughly modern motorcycle in 2024.

In the US market, the 2024 version of the W800 is currently sold in a colorway that's called Metallic Slate Blue/Metallic Diablo Black. Looking directly at the bike, that seems to mean that the Metallic Diablo Black is the primary color (even if it's listed second), while the Metallic Slate Blue bits act more as little pops of color here and there to add visual interest to the composition.

It's nice, but it's a decidedly cool-toned color scheme. And maybe that's what you're into, or maybe it isn't.

For those who prefer a warmer color scheme, I have some good news for you. It's particularly good if you're in Indonesia right now, because that's where Kawasaki just introduced its 2025 W800 color update.

On the Kawasaki Indonesia website, the colorway is listed simply as "Metallic Diablo Black," but the images clearly show new accent colors to go along with all the black. There's a goldish-yellow (goldenrod?) stripe underneath the W badge found on the tank. Below that, there's a warm, dark brown block of color.

Brown can be a tricky shade to get right, but Kawasaki seems to know what it's doing when it uses brown on bikes. At least, it did on the '70s bikes that clearly inspired this one, so we'll hold on to a reasonable expectation that it's probably quite nice to see in person (even if it appears quite subtle in the photos provided). That appears to be the only colorway listed for the 2025 W800 in Indonesia, though.

What If You Want Other Colors?

If you were hoping for more color options, Kawasaki can't offer you those on the W800 in Indonesia at this time. However, if color choice and style are much more important to you than engine size, you should definitely check out the array of W175 SE, TR, and Cafe options that are currently on offer by Kawasaki Indonesia.

What do you think?

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Comments

Some of the W175s also come with brown saddles rather than black, offering greater visual versatility to suit your style desires.

Here in the US, we don't get the W175. We do get the W800, though. Is it possible that we're getting a little peek into the future of the next update (style still counts as an update) of the W800? It's certainly possible.