I went 300 miles to buy my Tengai in atrocious weather. I had decided that I had to have one and the 1989 machine with only 4000 miles done seemed ideal over the phone. No misuse off road and immaculate condition were claimed. More or less true, save that the tyres were worn out. Mine for 1800 notes.
The roads were awash with water, the Japanese tyres skidded everywhere and the bike went into serious weaves every time I put more than 50mph on the clock. Protection from the fairing was a lot less than I would have liked, I was soon soaked through. It took about ten hours to get home, near midnight when we growled up to the house. My mind had been so blasted by the weather that it wasn't until later that I realised I did not have to refill the five gallon petrol tank.
The bike looked pretty wrecked the next day. Covered in layers of grime it appeared about ten years old. I was perplexed to find that the bike refused to start up on the electric foot. A lot of coughing and banging. The fairing and tank effectively hide the top end of the engine. After spending about an hour stripping these off, I managed to change the spark plug. Water had somehow got past the radiator and plastic, forming a large puddle around the plug.
The bike came to life after that. The sun was out, so the tyre shop was the first stop. A set of Avon Gripsters were levered on for a reasonable 80 sovs. I would have preferred road tyres but the 21"front wheel precluded that indulgence. The next item on the agenda was a jet-wash. Amazing what a bit of water can do, the bike ended up looking immaculate, as it should, being only ten months old.
The Avons made an immediate improvement in handling, making the bike seem much more reassuring. The Tengai makes about 50 horses at 6500rpm, which translates into a 2500 to 6000rpm spread of power. 50 horses isn't very much for a 650, Triumph managed that for their twins in the sixties. The engine just doesn't want to rev beyond 7000rpm, the power tailing off as the vibes increase from their normal gentle, almost reassuring, thrum.
The engine features balancers, of course, which have the usual effect of making the engine feel like it is fighting against itself. The balancers together with light flywheels makes sure that the Kawasaki has little of the low torque appeal of old British singles. Indeed, below 2500rpm in top the chain leaps around like it is about to fall off and the engine can stutter so badly that the motor goes dead. It'll also do that trick when idling at lights, a time when I'm very thankful for the modern convenience of the electric starter.
Apart from that, the motor had a very friendly nature, you could just stick it in top and slug it out from 2500rpm onwards. Acceleration is a little short on the gut churning, arm wrenching stuff, although wheelies are just a jerk of the arms and throttle away. Cruising speed is in the 80 to 90mph range, where the upright riding position is tolerable as the fairing takes quite a bit of the wind, if not the water, off my chest and neck.
The riding position was even better in town and down country roads. Trail bikes are surprisingly fast through the curves, giving the race reptiles palpitations. Where they lose out is on the suspension. The long travel is great for absorbing pot-holes but does allow the Tengai's 400lbs to wobble about a little. Nothing too frightening, though, and on smooth roads it's as stable as most sport bikes.
Time did little to aid suspension compliance. A poorly designed rear mudguard meant loads of road crud was thrown at the single shock, which was so well hidden that I never bothered to glance at it until all the damping disappeared, leaving me sitting on a buckling pogo-stick. Not particularly charmed by the way the back end tried to jump off the road, I was astonished to find that the shock was covered in inches of crud. Replacement with a nearly new one out of a breaker's for £15 cured the problem, along with a bit of rubber sheet between guard and swinging arm.
Whilst I was at it I pulled the rear suspension and swinging arm bearings apart and filled them with grease. Just as well as they were dry. The front forks were on the soft side to start with, even with a full dose of air. They came fitted with gaiters which was to the good. Their most disconcerting habit was to judder when the front disc was applied in a hurry. This eventually revealed itself as steering head bearings on the way out, but only after about 8000 miles. I thought it was the worn out Gripsters that were causing the wobbles but when their replacement failed to provide a cure and I found a bit of looseness in the forks.
The cut and thrust of town riding was greatly aided by the decent brakes and the amount of leverage provided by the bars. The front brake had its own cover in deference to the ill advised prospect of trail riding. . . but it never faded despite the obvious heat hassles and had no problems working in the wet. The caliper seized up three times and I had to eventually replace it as the rotted surfaces became so rough that the piston movement lacked precision.
The narrow engine also aided filtering through gaps and the tall seat gave a fine view of how far ahead the traffic jam went. Honestly, traffic in major towns moves so slowly you have to wonder why the cagers bother. I can only assume that their life is so rotten at home and so horrible in work that they actually enjoy the solitude of sitting for hours in their cars reading novels or listening to the radio. I never crashed the Kawasaki, which says as much about its stability and flickability as it does about my riding abilities.
Long distance tours were ruined by the seat which in no way could match the 300 mile plus cruising range of the large petrol tank. After about 70 miles it turns rock hard, a fast way of getting a bad dose of piles and doing nasty things to ones marriage prospects. After 500 miles in a day I'm left staggering about clutching my backside like a Picadily bum boy after a heavy night with an Arab tour group. Ouch!
I could get as much as 70mpg out of the mill, more usually around 60mpg. Someone at Kawasaki knows a lot about air flow through four valve heads. . . . one of the few Japanese bikes to match, if not better, the old British bikes of the 1960s. If Kawasaki did well at making such a large thumper efficient, they also did a reasonable job on the rear chain which lasted for at least 10, 000 miles. Nothing to write home about but good going for a single with violent power pulses that tends to rip chains apart.
So, running costs were okay, at least up to 21000 miles when some funny noises started coming from the top end of the engine. The dealer reckoned that the camchain had gone and maybe the camshafts were ruined as well. I laughed in his face when he gave me a quote for fixing the bike! I did the work myself. Sure enough, the camchain and tensioner were worn out and the camshaft lobes were well pitted and scored. I have to admit I had only done 5000 mile oil changes, so this was probably the culprit for the latter problem.
After about a week wandering around breakers I'd bought replacement parts. With some new gaskets the job cost about £80. The engine has now done 33000 miles with no further problems, although a slight fall off in power and increase in vibes suggests that it's about due for a rebore. The starter has also become a bit precarious, whirring away furiously until finally plunging the engine into life. The indicator switch fell apart and the horn fell off, whilst bulbs have always had a certain tendency to explode, doubtless some of the vibes getting through.
Finish is poor now, needing lots of cleaning of surface rust on screws, chrome, exhaust, etc. , to keep up its appearance. I could probably sell the bike for about £1500, which means depreciation has been minimal. I may have to sell the Tengai because its 652cc puts the bike into an extremely expensive insurance bracket whilst it is actually slower than many 250cc race replicas. Most unfair that. The Tengai is still a neat looking bike and a very, very versatile one.
Mike Grey