2018 Kawasaki H2 SX SE.
If you looked at Kawasaki?s bombastic Ninja H2 supercharged sportbike back when it was introduced in 2015, and thought to yourself, ?Gosh, that?s my bike?if only it didn?t have such an aggressive riding position,? we have just the bike for you. Kawasaki says that the mildly tamed 2018 Ninja H2 SX supercharged sportbike was ?developed for the daily applications of today?s sportbike rider.? You can even get matching hard luggage for it. Still scratching your head" Perhaps we should start from the beginning?.
Read our First Look Review of the Kawasaki Ninja H2 supercharged sportbike.
At the 2014 Intermot show held every two years in Cologne, Germany, Kawasaki unveiled the 300-horsepower, experts-only, very much non-street-legal Ninja H2R. A month later, it announced a street-legal, 197.6-horsepower version, the Ninja H2, based on the exact same supercharged engine. While its claimed peak horsepower figure was actually below two other liter-class superbikes, the BMW S 1000 RR and the Ducati 1299 Panigale, what the H2 promised above all was exhilarating, breath-taking, chest-pounding acceleration. Consider that the bike wears the Kawasaki River Mark, indicating it was developed by the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group?including the downforce-inducing bodywork by the Kawasaki Aerospace Company. When a bike needs wings to keep it on the ground, a la Formula One or IndyCars, you know you?re in for a heckuva ride. The Kawasaki River Mark is reserved for ma...