The Japanese auto major Kawasaki has launched its new flagship motorcycle in India, Ninja H2 with a price tag of Rs 29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
The motorcycle will be imported to India via CBU (completely built units) route and made available at all the five exclusive Kawasaki showrooms across the country.
Being the street-legal version of the world's most powerful production motorcycle Ninja H2R (more than 300PS), the H2 shares the design and almost every technical equipment with its elder sibling. Currently, the H2 and H2R are the world's only supercharged production motorcycles, which also get many other cutting edge technologies making them special in the performance bike market. So here we are to brief you on this 'Built Beyond Belief' Ninja and its class-leading features.
Engine and performance
Powering the new Kawasaki Ninja H2 is a revolutionary 998cc, inline-four, supercharged engine, which makes more than 300PS of power for the track-spec Ninja H2R. However, the motor has been retuned for the street-spec H2 to make it legal for the road use. So, the altered motor makes 200PS of maximum power at 11,000rpm, which further goes upto 210PS with the Ram Air. Torque output of the mill goes upto 133.5Nm at 10,500rpm. It is the world's only supercharged production motorcycle and uses a very advanced and compact supercharger unit, developed in cooperation with the KHI's Gas Turbine and Machinery Company.
The liquid-cooled engine of Ninja H2 uses dual fuel injection system, which further enhances its performance, while making the delivery smoother. The motor comes mated to a 6-speed dog ring transmission, for super smooth gear transactions.
Design and styling
Bolted on a lightweight, high tensile steel trellis frame, the new Ninja H2 sports many advance features in chassis. The bike uses Kawasaki's first single-sided swingarm, which allows to mount the exhaust muffler closed to the centre line of the motorcycle. The swingarm has been mounted on a newly designed mounting plate, which allows the swingarm to be attached directly to the engine. It eliminates the use of an extra cross-member in the chassis, reducing the weight of the vehicle.
Styling of the bike is inspired by Kawasaki's Aerospace Company, which can be felt in its edgy, aerodynamic bodywork. Front of the motorcycle gets a very aggressively designed fairing with ram air duct intake, a projector headlight and 2 small LED DRLs. The front cowl has not been extended much to provide optimum aerodynamics without increasing the weight. The black paint on the motorcycle has been mirror coated, which provides a high-gloss feel and improves the aerodynamics. It has a very innovative seat with some uniquely designed back supports, which holds the rider at its position even at some seriously high speeds. Every single element of the Ninja H2 defines its speciality and it just does not feel like a superbike, but a hyperbike.
Wheels and tyres
The new Kawasaki Ninja H2 comes with innovative star-pattern 5-spoke wheels, which have been selected after analysis and testing to determine the optimum rigidity balance for high speed performance. These wheels come covered with high performance and super sticky tyres including 120/70 ZR17 M/C (58W) for the front and 200/55 ZR17 M/C (78W) for the rear.
Equipment:
The new Kawasaki Ninja H2 comes equipped with some highly advanced equipment, which makes it one of the most technologically advanced motorcycles available in the market today. These high-end equipment are:
1. Instrument cluster
The highly informative instrumentation of the Ninja H2 conveys the image of piloting a jet fighter aircraft. It combines a fully digital LCD screen, showing a bunch of data in single time along with an analog tachometer. The tachometer's black dial "face" looks blank until the engine speed increases. Backlit RPM numbers light up to chase the tachometer needle as it moves around the dial.
2. Suspension setup
The bike has a fully adjustable KYB suspension set-up with the latest AOS-II (Air-Oil-Separate) cartridge forks, which have been used first ever across the world. It is used for providing silky-smooth initial action complemented by strong damping. Its 43mm inverted front forks feature rebound and compression damping, spring preload adjustability and top-out springs, which provides a wheel travel up to 120mm. The rear gets new Uni-Trak suspension with gas-charged shock, piggyback reservoir, dual-range (high/low speed) compression damping, rebound damping and preload adjustability, and top-out spring, which allows a travel upto 135mm to the rear wheel.
3. Brakes
For high performance braking, the new Ninja H2 comes with dual front and single rear disc brakes, which are assisted by Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS). On the front wheel, it has 2 units of 330mm disc grabbed by radial-mount, opposed 4-piston caliper. While the rear gets a 250mm disc with opposed 2-piston caliper.
4. Electronic safety package
Packed with cutting edge technology, the new Kawasaki Ninja H2 comes with a very advanced electronic rider support, which can be managed according to the rider's requirements. It combines the new three mode KTRC (Kawasaki TRaction Control) with each consisting of three programmable levels, KLCM (Kawasaki Launch Control Mode), KIBS (Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System) and Kawasaki's electronic steering damper, jointly developed with Ohlins.
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