CarBrandLogos archive · Kawasaki · 2015

KawasakiNinja H2

A supercharged production motorcycle, built because the parent company could.

Photo: Rikita · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Kawasaki history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Kawasaki Ninja H2, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Kawasaki motorcycle supercharged engine 2013 Tokyo Motor Show

Origins

Supercharging had been tried on motorcycles before, mostly as an aftermarket exercise, and it had never reached a mass-produced road bike. Kawasaki's advantage was that Kawasaki Heavy Industries is not primarily a motorcycle firm. Its aerospace, gas turbine and machinery divisions designed and built the centrifugal supercharger in-house, sized and matched specifically to the 998cc inline four rather than adapted from an automotive part. That collaboration is the whole reason the H2 exists.

Kawasaki motorcycle supercharged engine 2013 Tokyo Motor Show · Morio · CC BY-SA 3.0

Kawasaki Ninja H2R Seattle motorcycle show

Design and engineering

The result appeared in 2015 in two forms. The street-legal H2 was homologated for road use and sold through dealers. The H2R was track-only, with more aggressive supercharger boost, carbon aerodynamic winglets and no lighting or mirrors, and it was quoted at over 300 horsepower, far beyond anything else offered to the public at the time.

Kawasaki Ninja H2R Seattle motorcycle show · Brianhe · CC BY-SA 4.0

Kawasaki Ninja H2R engine cutaway supercharger

In production

The engineering around the engine was equally unusual. Kawasaki used a steel trellis frame rather than the twin-spar aluminium beam standard on its sportbikes, a single-sided swingarm, and a highly reflective silver-mirror paint developed with its materials people. The bodywork carried aerodynamic devices years before winglets became common on production sportbikes.

Kawasaki Ninja H2R engine cutaway supercharger · Dennis Bratland · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

The name reaches back to the 1972 Mach IV H2, a 750cc two-stroke triple notorious for delivering its power in one sudden surge and for handling that struggled to contain it. Kawasaki chose the badge deliberately: the H2 was never meant to be a rational alternative to a superbike, and it was priced accordingly. It has since spawned a supercharged touring line, the H2 SX, which put the same idea to a more practical purpose.

Technical specification

The Ninja H2, in detail.

Production: 2015–Current
Class: Street-legal sport bike (H2); Track-only sport bike (H2R)
Engine: Supercharged (two-speed centrifugal) 998 cc DOHC 4-valve inline-4 four-stroke
Transmission: 6-speed
Manufacturer: Kawasaki Motors

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