Long Termer: 5 months on a Kawasaki Z-H2 SE

Andy is wrapping up his time on the Kawasaki Z-H2 SE, so what are his final thoughts? Catch up on his thoughts after 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 4 months.

Finding myself with a couple of days available and with limited time remaining with this bike in my possession, I decided to plan a mini road trip. I have a great fondness for Scotland so plotted a route up to ride around the borders with an overnight stay. Now, as winter is fast approaching the smart thing to do would be to head south in search of better climates but I’m not into bikes necessarily for any sensible reasons, so the couple of days ahead will have me handing the keys over willingly or be like a final fling with the bike I have genuinely enjoyed riding it this year.

The first leg of the journey was mainly dual carriageway and motorways, solely so I could push northwards quicker to get where I wanted to be. Not normally being a big user of cruise control and after a quick play figuring out the relevant buttons on the move, I found myself clicking it on quite frequently for this part of the journey just to move my arm around as soon as any signs of discomfort started to arise from holding the same throttle position for mile after mile.  I pulled into Scotch Corner services after 140 miles for the first of many fuel stops to come, with the display showing a possible 40 miles of range left which I believe is the best milage I have had from a tank of fuel so far this year.

The 2 hours and 20 minutes I had just travelled started off ok but after a couple of hours the seat felt quite solid on my backside, and I was doing a few shuffles from side to side to relieve some pressure. I must say that I normally like this seat as I find it a good balance of cushioning yet still I’m able to feel what is going on but, sat in the same position for too long was proving to be a little uncomfortable. As it was, I was leaving the monotonous motorway within a few miles of filling up and heading northwest on the A68. This stretch of road gave me chance to move around more on the bike and was great to ride taking in some engaging bends and a number of interesting blind summits that seem to drop away quite suddenly when approaching them at the speed limit. Ok, it is the UK so I’m not going to promise you smooth tarmac for the entirety of this route but it wasn’t too bad to be fair, and it is a more scenic route to get to the Anglo-Scottish border. For the remainder of the day I was going through villages and towns with a blast in between them where possible while also finding the weather and road conditions changing quite frequently. This was one area that the Kawasaki did prove that it was worth riding up on.

As I mentioned in my last writeup, you can change the rider mode simply by rolling off the throttle and holding the mode buttons without needing to come to a stop. The rain mode was brilliant for softening up the bike for confidence but if left engaged when pushing on in the dryer areas, did feel a bit too soft and caused a bit of wallowing. Likewise, with the dry setting in the wet I soon felt the difference with an odd twitch from the front to remind me to switch to rain mode especially when fallen leaves became an issue a couple of times, but I don’t want to take anything away from the tyres which have been doing a great service since collecting the bike. The Pirelli Rosso IIIs that came as standard still look good and have the same profile as day 1, despite having to find traction every time I’m calling on the near 200 bhp, needing to anchor up its 240kg plus rider (undisclosed weight) for tight corners, or to be thrown around twisty roads on a cool autumnal day.

After 3 tanks of fuel and many hours spent riding towards the horizon, I knew I wasn’t far from where I had booked to stay for the night so that’s when I had to rely on sat nav to guide me in the last couple of miles. I was happy riding around all day without it as I knew roughly where I was heading but if I was going further away from roads that I am familiar with then I would have needed a USB adapter fitting to keep charge, not a big expense to add one but something I would have liked as standard.

A little bit of panic set in after parking up as the chain I brought along for security this time, despite being a little slimmer and along with my Houdini like skills at hiding it in the near nonexistence space under the pillion seat had now stopped the locking mechanism on the pillion seat from opening. A little bit of wiggling combined with a couple of muttered magic f-bombs released it preventing the bike going back to Kawasaki in a few weeks with a hidden surprise.

Heading back the next day the conditions were torrential from setting off to getting home. I had dressed as best as I could for the occasion after looking at the forecast before setting off but even so, I would have preferred less of a test on my waterproof kit than the one I was having to put them through. This run home was to be the last chance I got to ride this bike before it had to be returned and with the relentless rainfall, I was focused on getting home yet thinking about how great it has been. As I didn’t feel the need or want to stop for more photos on my way back, I made it in good time and if it hadn’t of been for the last few hours of rain starting to seep into some uncomfortable areas, I would have carried on riding passed my house for a few more miles around my local area to burn the last of the fuel off… just because.

You may have gathered that I have enjoyed my time over the last few months with this bike and I`m not someone to say this just to blow smoke up Mr Kawasaki’s arse. The power is something nobody can falter; it is there when needed but this bike is also able to potter at a sedate and legal pace through villages all the time with that chirping in reserve to remind you this is something special.

The lack of screen with this being a naked bike keeps things real and inadvertently acts as a reminder of the speed limit when you feel the blast of air when you get close to the limit. I`m not going to bang on about the lack of heated grips or that there is no USB outlet again other than to say I would like to of had these. The electronics were brilliant for the road when I was switching between rider modes and was enough for my needs. I did go looking further into the other settings one day out of curiosity and I did find that navigating the menus wasn’t as straight forward as other bikes I have ridden and for many that are not familiar with this setup then maybe the manual would need consulting.

The chance never arose for me to take this bike around a track with other work/life commitments but to be fair I don’t think I missed too much. Yes, it is fast but with its power and having a supercharger it would make it a target for other trackdayers and I’d make a guess that the extra weight would most likely be more noticeable in the corners compared to a stripped-down race bike. It would have been interesting though, I’m sure.

Going back to a question I asked myself after my first ride, would I get bored of the novelty chirping from the blowoff? Well, although I didn’t actively listen for it towards the end, when it is at its loudest it did still make me smile right up until when I returned the bike. It’s not a novelty. It’s brilliant, as is this bike. Anyway, that’s our journey coming to an end. It’s an interesting bike, that’s for sure, and I’d say all things considered, I’ve enjoyed every mile clocked on the big Kawasaki. It’s been a blast. 

Time on test: 5 months

Miles: 1740

BHP: 197
Gain: 0

Next aim: Return to Kawasaki

Price from new: £19,799

Modifications: None

Running total: £0

Andy Bell