Zonko’s attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

15th photos

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

1/15
Even ahead of the German S 1000 RR, the Japanese R1M and the Italian 1299 Panagale and RSV4 RF, Kawasaki’s H2 is the biggest sensation of 2015 for Zonko.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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Even after the ride, the throttle hand itches – there’s a whistle to calm you down.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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… is it not primarily in the world to break lap records.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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For Zonko, the H2 is definitely the craziest super sports car of all time. Indeed …

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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Even if the weight of 239 kg might suggest it – the H2 absolutely doesn’t drive like a chubby touring athlete.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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The look of the Supercharger Kawasaki is just as extraordinary as the power concept.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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Corners and edges wherever you look …

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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… the frame also shines. Similarly imposing and with its own dog tag, the Supercharger sits on the right above the crankcase.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

9/15
The green not only offers a wonderful contrast to the dark anthracite of the H2 in terms of the damping setting, …

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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In addition to all known and popular information, the cockpit also offers a field that shows the charger power.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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In contrast to the H2R, the central headlight is only flanked on one side by the Ram Air inlet.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

12/15
Zonko tests the Kawasaki H2.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

13/15
Zonko’s heart pounds while bystanders hear the chirping of birds from the compressor and watch a comet fly through the streets.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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From zero to 200 in 7.0 seconds – this has never been achieved in series production.

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

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And Zonko’s conclusion?
"All over the world the mania for regulation and control is being driven to extremes in an unpleasant manner and any personal responsibility in the bud, but Kawasaki, like the indomitable Gaulish village, holds against it and instead of the magic potion, puts a machine with irrepressible power at the gate for the indomitable freedom-lovers. I give them credit for that. Thanks, Kawasaki!"

Zonko’s attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Exuberance is followed by a surge of panic

Content of

The insanely wild supercharged Kawasaki Ninja H2 goes from zero to 200 like no other series iron. It’s official: 218 hp and 139 Nm. Is the H2 a stray comet??

The year 2015 will be classified as a very good vintage by full-throttle gourmets and performance gourmets. The Bavarian BMW S 1000 RR, the overarming with heated grips and cruise control, the breathtakingly sharp Yamaha YZF-R1M from Japan and the two Italian goddesses Ducati 1299 Panigale and Aprilia RSV4 RF will be considered spectacular highlights. But the biggest sensation will certainly be the Kawasaki Ninja H2 will go down in the annals. It uses the Supercharger to distribute it so hard that inhibited Klemmer can raise their index finger to warn them, but cannot utter a word. Because they are speechless, as the saying goes.   

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Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Zonko’s attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2
Exuberance is followed by a surge of panic

To introduce the Kawasaki Ninja H2, we briefly switch to the weekend house of the brave bureaucrat Gustav Knunz: while he accurately taps his breakfast egg with a spoon and lifts the bowl, the H2 reaches 200 km / h from a standstill. From zero to 200 in 7.0 seconds! That’s really huge, that’s world class, that’s unmatched in series production. And the characteristic trill of the compressor, whose “paddle wheels” compress the air at supersonic speed and blow it into the four-cylinder, will make the good Knunz believe that the birds are chirping outside: “Erna, today is a particularly beautiful day!” His Holde am Fenster will look at him with uneasy eyes and say: “I don’t know, Gustav. I just saw a comet on the street. “

After 299 km / h you can think well at 200

I have not yet driven the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, the ultimate crazy rocket. I can’t even imagine 20 kilos less and 90 hp more than the conventional Kawasaki Ninja H2. Because the compressor kawa, which is eligible for approval, has already shot me through the world so insanely that I had real difficulties with the flame of the lighter in the bowl of the pipe when dismounting. The adrenaline made me shiver like the cold a kitchen assistant with a special order in the cold store: “Before you drop me three plates, count the North Sea fillets and layer the beef halves!” Even with 250 items on the clock, there was an unexpectedly harsh acceleration thrust that pressed the very best in the back of the perfectly shaped seat support. Wow! What a brute engine! 

At 299 (that is real 295 km / h) the electronics unmistakably put an end to the hustle and bustle. Possibly there will be a furious super speed freak who will shout into the helmet in the best “fish-named-Wanda” manner: “I’m disappointed!” But most people like me will need a moment of rest when they had five kilometers on the odometer. A speed of 80 meters per second is not a child’s birthday. The following insight will have little meaning for Knunz and his Erna, but for riders of a Kawasaki Ninja H2R it is fundamental: After five kilometers at full throttle, 200 km / h feels like relaxed cruising. You sit on the sharp rocket with the incomparable stability, cut the air seemingly without resistance and are so under-challenged that the brain can find its own way.

All tests and articles about the Kawasaki Ninja H2

"My first fall in 25 years"

I thought dreamily of the PS Odenwald trip in May. It was a firm push with a surprising number of curves for me. The highlight in terms of dynamics was certainly the mess after a sharp left. In the heat of the moment, the bald eagle named Baron von Richthofen in the legendary Gericke leather sack one-piece, fighting against losing the connection in fifth place, understood a nuance too late that the leading Jacko wanted to lead the hungry pack on the left into a parking lot, and pressed himself with his Big Enduro still right by a hair’s breadth past the super athlete of the wondering Ohlins man (a blinker went “bump”, so had to believe it), then tore the machine to the left (for whatever reason) and parked it with a stuttering ABS directly in the left Flank of the turning in Jacko-Panigale. Both went down. The most entertaining value was not only the matter-of-fact, sober question to Richthofen: “What was that?”, But also his answer: “I don’t know. It’s my first fall in 25 years. ”I won’t forget the picture of how the left panel of the Panigale protruded from the garbage can before we left the site, which is now known as“ Richthofen’s Attack ”. A masterpiece of modern art. 

Embedded in this nice memory, I was now smiling dreamily to myself on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 when a truck driver suddenly maneuvered his huge pile of metal into the middle lane to overtake. Compared to 299, 200 is nothing, but compared to 100 an avalanche. I never fully understood Einstein’s theory of relativity, but it was already clear to me that a veering truck behaves like a submarine that appears to a jet ski.

Kawasaki Ninja H2 is the craziest serial athlete

Dodging was, of course, an easy exercise that in no way quickened the pulse. Kawasaki has a lot of experience with surface-to-surface missiles (even with the first ZX-12R I drove through the light barrier at a real 310 km / h – before the Japanese, who feared the European bureaucracy, agreed that no road iron faster than 299 should march), and the Kawasaki Ninja H2 is the best approvable machine they’ve ever built. The bullet not only accelerates breathtakingly, it also brakes and has the steering precision of a super sports car. That the H2 with a full tank of 239 kilos is much heavier than race-oriented thousands like the ZX-10R & Co. is correct, but should not lead to the conclusion that it is a touring athlete. That would be a real aberration, an embarrassing misjudgment, madness. The Kawasaki H2 is definitely the craziest super athlete of all time, but it’s not primarily in the world to break lap records. 

I drove the machine on the race track in Brno and at the Red Bull Ring and was just stunned by the insane pressure the engine was generating. I was also enthusiastic about the electronics. Normally I would have needed at least twenty laps to be reasonably confident about calling up the sheer force of the charged block, but trusting the rescue systems, I riveted completely after the third lap. Incredibly great! When I switched from three to four at full throttle using the automatic gearshift, the roaring Kawasaki Ninja H2 lifted the front very slightly and accelerated like nothing else before – with the front wheel ten centimeters above the asphalt. You know that from MotoGP. Killer electronics! 

Zonko's attack on the Kawasaki Ninja H2

Super athlete


Kawasaki Ninja H2R in the PS driving report


Pure madness


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The test bench provides confirmation: 218 hp

The subjective madness that I experienced on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 is then confirmed by the test bench: the 1000 in-line quad with supercharger produces an incredible 217.9 hp on the crankshaft at 11,300 rpm! That is beyond good and bad. The angels rejoice in heaven, and Satan, in a good mood, dumps a sack full of briquettes into the oven. Almost 218 hp! Everyone is happy. Add to that 139.3 Nm at 10,800 rpm. One could assume that the reason for the H2’s enormous acceleration power can be found in these impressive values, but Kawasaki also has a relatively short gear ratio for the first three gears. The ones “only” go up to 125 km / h, the two up to just under 160, the three up to 195, the four up to 230, the five up to 261, the six up to 295. With the “conventional” super athletes, the one brings about 150, the double reaches 190. 

Planting the short ones in connection with the unrivaled brute power in a series machine would have been unthinkable a few years ago, because one could have assumed with a probability bordering on certainty that the pilots who turn the throttle inadvertently would have to go backwards as normal flips over. This is no longer an issue today. Because the Kawasaki Ninja H2 is equipped with highly functional electronics. To go back to the aforementioned shift from three to four: Without Wheelie Control, I would have had to take off the gas quickly. Leaving back beyond 200 km / h is not something that you would like to include in your resume. There are things that you don’t have to try, you can leave them out, you won’t miss anything.

Sufficiently motorized on the country road

Due to its construction, the Kawasaki Ninja H2 is clearly inferior to the most modern high-end superbikes on the racetrack when it comes to the last tenths of a second, because you can feel the extra weight in every braking zone and in every radius. But this is not an issue for fun-oriented hobby racers. Because, despite the slightly longer wheelbase and the absolutely necessary high-speed stability (the H2R, which is essentially identical to the H2, marches over 330 km / h and needs top-class straight-line stability), it gives in very willingly. You may not feel the front wheel as clearly as on the ZX-10R & Co., but clearly enough to be race-oriented on the brakes in the radius. 

The only tricky thing is the throttle response at the top. It takes getting used to in the truest sense of the word. If you put on the gas like always, your eyes will open tightly, as they say. Yes, heaven, so much power suddenly floods the rear 200 roller that the line becomes wide. A clear case for hot ears under the helmet. To lie down in the gravel with one of the rare and not exactly cheap Kawasaki H2s sounds like a “fateful affair”. The good thing is that after a few laps you know what is in store for you and that you can adjust to this characteristic. You just go to work very sensitively.

Killer pressure in all speed ranges

A priori, I would have assumed that the heavy use of power on the country road could be a serious threat, since there is not always room for an extended line there. But I had zero problem with it. As soon as you are more or less focused on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 and your right wrist is working more sensitively than coarse, you ruffle through the world as a matter of course. Killer pressure in all speed ranges, very firm, but not uncomfortable chassis, super sporty steering precision, top anchor. Just an amazing machine.

However, you have to be aware of two facts when you are on the road with a Kawasaki Ninja H2: Firstly, you can simply forget full throttle on the country road within the framework of the legal possibilities, and secondly, crowds of people always form when you get off the car. No matter where. The H2 is an eye-catcher that attracts admirers. You may have to answer the question “How does the compressor chirp?” Several times a day.

Exuberance is followed by a brief surge of panic

After two short sessions on the racetrack and a great excursion in the open country, I was so one with the divine Kawasaki Ninja H2 that I became cocky. I fully trusted in traction and wheelie control and after turning on a T-junction in the gently rolling hills, I let the machine make a race-oriented start almost from a standing start. A lot of gas, brisk grinding in of the clutch, full speed ahead! Full throttle! Inconceivably brutal crack! Comet-like print! Maximum happiness in the beating heart. But at the moment when I thought: “Now I’m going to add the two!” The machine climbed into the gallery pretty harshly, and I reflexively lifted the gas. Wow! I just didn’t expect that anymore. I felt as if the electronics, which have always kept the incredibly tearing projectile close to the ground, wanted to say to me: “We have got along wonderfully so far. But don’t forget that the engine is serving 218 horsepower and my job is just to take back as little of it as possible if you overdose. Always remember your grandma’s saying: cockiness is rarely good! And yes: if you should crush me, I’ll never forgive you. And the importer will cut you in four. “

Over a whistle of reassurance, I pondered to myself: The bold, unique high-speed optics of the H2, the unrivaled engine with the fascinating compressor and a great electronics package, as well as the fact that Kawasaki is in times when personal freedom from those who are crazy about regulation and Control freaks is pushed back further and further, when a rocket is launched, make me really happy. If there was a medal for outstanding performance in vehicle construction, the Kawasaki agents would definitely have earned one for the Kawasaki Ninja H2. 

Technical specifications


andreasriedmann.at

205 HP, from 9 to 200 in 7 seconds and a base price of 25,000 euros – a few key data of the Kawasaki Ninja H2.

Power, power and more power – always and everywhere. The engine cuts the pressure across the power band straight into the asphalt. On the PS test bench, the four-in-line of the Kawasaki Ninja H2 achieved an incredible 217.9 PS.

Conclusion


andreasriedmann.at

For Zonko the highlight of the 2015 vintage: The Kawasaki Ninja H2.

“When I think about you like that, dear H2, for me you are the absolute highlight of the already spectacular 2015 vintage. The compressor equipment makes me nod in awe, the horsepower test run brought tears of joy to my eyes. 218 hp as standard! All over the world the mania for regulation and control is being driven to extremes in an unpleasant manner and any personal responsibility in the bud, but Kawasaki, like the indomitable Gaulish village, holds against it and instead of the magic potion, puts a machine with irrepressible power at the gate for the indomitable freedom-lovers. I give them credit for that. Thanks, Kawasaki! 

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