VOL. 53 ISSUE 8 MARCH 1, 2016 P75
the grand daddy of road sport-
bikes, much like the ZZ-R1100
was in the early 1990s and
the legendary, first generation
H2R of the 1970s before that.
As such, the rider is cosset-
ted in enough comfort that he
won't have his knees creased to
unhealthy angles, with enough
blood flow to allow for longer
days in the saddle that could be
reasonably expected. Converse-
ly, the H2 makes a surprisingly
good commuter, if a 200-odd
horsepower machine could ever
be considered such. Take the
abrupt throttle out of the equa-
tion and you could potentially
ride the H2 around for the rest
of your life and never see north
of 60 mph. However, you'd be
doing motorcycling, not only
yourself, a thorough disservice
and you should probably re-
evaluate why you own such a
fire-breather in the first place.
The H2 has shot near to the
very top of motorcycles I'd love
to own not because it's fast,
or because it's got shiny silver
to blind for days, or because
I know only a few people will
ever get to experience the fun
of the flutter. It's because this is
a motorcycle overflowing with
a quality that is so difficult to
manufacture—personality. This
is a motorcycle whose presence
cannot be denied. People who
have no idea there's a super-
charger bolted to the engine
stop and stare at the H2; riders
follow you around just to hear it;
and every time I thumbed that
starter during my week with an
H2, I got that guilty, lusty feel-
ing in my loins only a certain
few bikes I've ever ridden—all of
which I could never possibly af-
ford—gave me.
And it's moments like these that
make me love motorcycling. CN
K A W A S A K I H 2
ENGINE: ...................Inline, four-cylinder,
DOHC, 16-valve, supercharged
DISPLACEMENT: ........................... 998cc
BORE X STROKE: ................. 76 x 55mm
HORSEPOWER: ....193 hp @ 10,850 rpm
(measured)
TORQUE: ........... 91.9 lb-ft @ 11,600 rpm
(measured)
COMPRESSION RATIO: .................... 8.5:1
TRANSMISSION: ......................Six-speed
CHASSIS: ................ Tubular steel trellis
FRONT SUSPENSION: .... 43mm inverted
fork, adjustable rebound and compres-
sion damping and spring preload
REAR SUSPENSION: .......... Single shock
absorber, adjustable rebound and com-
pression damping and spring preload
FRONT BRAKE: ....... Twin 330mm discs,
four-piston Brembo M50 radial calipers,
ABS
REAR BRAKE: ........ Single 250mm disc,
two-piston caliper, ABS
FRONT TIRE: ...................... 120/70 ZR17
REAR TIRE: ....................... 200/55 ZR17
RAKE: .............................................. 24.5°
TRAIL: ..............................................4.1 in.
WHEELBASE: ................................ 57.3 in.
SEAT HEIGHT: ............................. 32.5 in.
OVERALL WIDTH: ........................ 30.3 in.
OVERALL LENGTH: ....................... 82.1 in.
FUEL CAPACITY: ...........................4.5 gal
WEIGHT: .......... 524 lbs. (wet, claimed).
COLOR: ............................................Silver
MSRP: ....................................... $25,000
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
