Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014


even H2 is supercharged... just to keep the engine reliable and meet the sound/pollution norms..
and why would they pull out the most powerful rabbit so soon for street when they can use it for next few years by using the same tech and increasing 10 bhp every year...

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

Because their fastest rabbit can only run for 15hours and needs heart surgery after every 30 hours

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

thats not new.. happens with most of race spec bike and fornmula 1 engines.. they last only a race or more...
imagine naturally aspirated engines making 200 at max and this thing making 310 with same displacement.. the amount of stress and wear and tear the parts will take...

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

+1. Kawasaki is simply waiting and checking out the competition. Then they'll open up their sleeve.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

As of now their Rabbit has the least power to weight among the new gen 1000's. Also Why isn't anyone realising that the claimed output of the ZX10r was 210 HP after its refresh in 2011 so it is actually as powerful (Slightly more) as the new H2.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

^^ the only way to find out the difference between the ZX10R and the H2 is to ride both of'em and draw conclusions. The ZX10R is crazy but extremely tamable - thanks to the advanced electronics and braking. The H2 is supposedly more advanced and is supercharged, and hence only a test ride will determine the differentiating lines.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

I've become speechless to say any kind of words about this splendid piece of automobile engineering!!!!

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

It is agreeable that the force fed engines rev to the redline much faster than the Naturally aspirated ones.But the supercharger appears to not weigh more than 30 Kg and the H2 is almost 33 Kgs up on the ZX10r. The ZX10r may have a higher peak output (HP)but the peak output will be a much flatter curve on the H2.They could have built a strengthened ZX10r engine with a supercharger and it would easily surpass the new unit doing duty on the H2 and also give us some excitement(I personally feel a bit let down after the Hype created by the 300+ HP H2R a detuning of almost 100 HP on the street version is unacceptable). Note that the new 1299 is only 2HP down on the H2 but it has a much higher torque rating. If you check the table I posted then you will also note that the power to weight is also lower than the next gen litre class machines.Honda is still keeping its trump card (The RC213V-S) close to its chest and it may produce more HP than the H2.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

The super bike market had to be shaken up and KAWASAKI has done it. Nothing has made so much news since the 1999 launch of the original speed pray the HAYABUSA. The goal of the manufacturer was to let the world re think about production motorcycles and showcase its technical prowess. The HR2 is truly a product of the future. The other manufacturers cant do anything but to catch up.
The Production version H2 is completely different from the ZX10R in terms of components , working , materials etc. The only similar number is the displacement. Due to the immense load of the super charger the new engine is built to incorporate a substantial oiling system. More importantly , the folks at KAWASAKI are able to achieve engine reliability at this level is just astounding. Just reading about the engine , its centrifugal supercharger , aluminium airbox , trellis frame etc gives us a glimpse of the thinking process that went behind this project.
Just bolting a supercharger is not as straigh forward like bolting a shot of NOS or even attaching a turbo.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

@ Bigron FYI Even bolting a NOS system or attaching a turbocharger is not straightforward(Also it's H2r not HR2).The H2r did cause a real big stir in the motorcycle market but the street version could atleast have been 230 HP to keep it comfortably ahead of the competition the competition is really breathing down the Street H2's neck(Ducati 1299) and also the weight of the ninja H2 is on the higher side of the litre class spectrum.So in terms of power-to-weight the ninja H2 is not the class leader.Also If you do not know about the internal functions of the I.C engine then you can understand that designing a new engine from ground up is a really expensive exercise and just strengthening and tweaking the existing ZX10's engine to accept a supercharger could easily achieve impressive results(Search for ghost rider turbo busa which has 499 HP on the net) .You seem to have a technical background so PLEASE Understand what I meant in a single phrase "strengthened ZX10r engine" in the earlier comment did not necessarily mean a simple operation of coupling a supercharger to the ZX10 engine.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

You have obviously seen alot of youtube videos to form an opinion. I am not going to go into that. Attaching a turbo is a relatively simpler exercise compared to installing a super charge. I have personally worked on installing a Stage 1 turbo On my Gen 1 . And I KNOW for a fact that as far as HARDWARE is concerned the build is not very complicated. I am referring to turbos on bikes . NOS even more so. So , I know a thing or two about turbo bikes and NOS and not through videos.
Anyhow I am sure people at Kawasaki who ALSO made the zx10 engine thought about what you think and then took a decision to build ground up.
Concluding , when you have a drawing board worth 300 bhp , extracting 220 , 230 or even 250 literally takes some pliers and screw drivers.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

You have worked on ATTACHING a stage 1 turbo,Not designing and building it ground up, plus you have done it as an aftermarket mod so meeting the compliant emission norms is not a big concern for you.Also it was bound to be easy as such kits are intended for even a layman with deep pockets (And big balls to turbo the busa).Plus I am a mechanical engineer by qualification and have been involved in engine design(2.7 RC buggy engine with 37000 rpm redline) and also have practical knowledge about engines since I have published two international research papers with one primarily dealing with bike engine and performance characteristics due to behaviour of flow in the inlet tracts. I am not a NOOB and if you make assumptions that everyone's opinion is formed based on youtube videos thats your shortcoming .And if you have a drawing board with 300 HP then you do NOT need pliers and screw drivers but software tweaks on the ECU to achieve emission compliance without losing close to 97 HP(I personally feel that Kawasaki engineers are planning on taking it slow and tweaking the ECU map to give successive updated models a slight bump in power each time without having to redesign any bits on the engine).I know you are a Non techie but don't assume everyone is plus attaching the link of the published paper for you to see and also next time you can mention the technical terms without general terms like PLIERS and SCREW drivers.



Design and Development of intake pulse Resonance chamber for four stroke engine

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

I am not here to prove anything to you. And I am definitely not here to speak in a language that you think is conducive. You can be whatever degree holder you are. I ride a super bike and like discussing super bikes with people who ride them or are involved in maintaining , improving or modifying them for street use. I learnt all about running and maintaining a 4 stroke busa engine by working on my own bike. Not reading it in books. So you with all your fancy vocab have no idea what a 185 rwhp feels like on the road unless you actually in the saddle.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

I am flattered to know that you think my vocab is fancy but I do have a very good Idea as to what big horsepower feels on the road( I used to deal with used superbikes alongwith a buddy and did get to ride a black market turbo busa which was overbored and also a genuine '83 YZR 500 black market import plus the other run of the mill superbikes as the job demanded). I also think that you lack the patience to read(Not skim through) the earlier comment in which I have mentioned that Big balls are required to turbo the busa(That's a compliment for you :P) and also that I have worked on engine development not just read about it inbooks.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Revealed at EICMA 2014

Guys, relax. Let's not indulge in a keyboard battle, when you both know you've had your share of unique experiences.
I partially agree with both of you on various points.


But, from what I understand, there's a reason for everything. You can never say what went wrong at which level. Do you know, at the earliest-mid stages, the plan was to have a supercharger in a ZX14R based engine. And in a span of 3 years from then to now, a lot has changed. Now, how can we know why the ZX14R plan didn't work? Simply, we can not, unless we have insider contacts in KHI, Japan. Maybe something didn't work out?

By the time the H2R news reached us, it became a litre class engine. And the figures we heard were unexpectedly, out of the world.

Many will complain about 200 bhp on the H2 without considering that:

1. H2R has special requirements, like compulsory tyre warmers, 15h engine inspection, 30h rebuilds, etc, etc... Wouldn't you prefer a 200 bhp without these complications, or would you want 250 bhp with some or the other complications (& headaches) applying? H2 is a streetbike, right?

As far as I'm concerned, frankly speaking, on my streetbike, I just want to plug the key in and ride. And change tyres at a good duration, not every couple of weeks or so. Even if it means slightly lesser horsepower.

2. The R1 of yesteryears was ruling the tracks, due to its crossplane crankshaft arrangement... despite a lowly(!) 157 bhp (rwhp) IIRC.
I know the R1 is much stronger now, but my point is that, are peak figures everything?
We haven't even ridden it, or seen the power charts as yet. Isn't it too early to draw conclusions? Why make statements we have to eat back later on?

3. Finally, it could have to do a lot with the street legality & economic sense involving the legality...
If, as a Kawasaki General Manager, you're given a choice to sell a 230 bhp bike in 2 markets.... OR .... a 200 bhp bike in 30+ markets, won't it be an obvious choice?


There may be other reasons I don't see...

What if the bike turns out to be one with insane power and torque graphs, below the redline? Kawasaki also know this market. Things may or may not go as per plans, but they still need a fair chance, before we judge. Remember, Kawasaki are the only one with Supercharger offerings. Let's give them credit for that.


As bikers we might see only the technical edge to everything, but like I said.... there's a reason for everything.