326hp Kawasaki H2R spits flames on the dyno

This year’s Motorcycle Live is proving to be the best ever, with some truly awe-inspiring bikes on display, from Ducati’s Scrambler to Yamaha’s R1; Honda RC213V-S to the incredible Kawasaki H2R.

Kawasaki unveiled the Ninja H2R to a huge crowd, first warming it up, and teasing onlookers with the throaty roar of this track-only machine.

During a brief interview, while the heat was allowed to radiate through the engine, Martin Lambert – Communications and PR Manager for Kawasaki Motors UK gave an outline on the thinking behind the bike: “We made this bike because we could. It’s a very important machine for Kawasaki Heavy Industries – we are all about performance.

“We’ve got the facilities to make this bike… some people would go away and buy a supercharger, but we developed and made our own. This bike is at the head of the range, and will affect all other Kawasakis. It’s a brand leader.

“The road-going H2 and the H2R were both developed at the same time, for two completely different reasons. The H2R is a closed-course machine, which means it’s totally not for the road – it’s designed without any parameters at all – this is literally the best that we could do.

“We were saying that this was a 300 horse-power machine, and that’s really impressive, but we’ve now found out it’s more… the calculated ultimate power with the Kawasaki Ram Air is 326 horse-power, so it’s a formidable machine. For the road, the H2 makes 200 horse-power, but the essence of it is the riding sensation. If you’ve never ridden a supercharged bike, it is just incredible.

I was lucky enough to ride one in Japan, and the road version is absolutely stunning – power from absolute tick-over, it gathers revs, it gathers power so quickly, it is phenomenal.”

Watch the video, and see how the incredible Kawasaki Ninja H2R bucks on the dyno as it storms through each gear. I’ve seen a lot of motorcycles on rolling roads, but this was truly amazing. As I knelt on the floor, a few feet from the bike, I could feel the ground shake as the noise pounded through me. Even with earplugs in place, its was a sound somewhere between terrifying and heavenly. With each gear-change, blue flames would spit from the short exhaust, and as the revs built, the inside glowed with the massive heat generated.

If you’re going to the NEC’s Motorcycle Live this year, make sure you’re at the Kawasaki stand for the 12:30 dyno run. My advice… take earplugs, and get there at 11:30 to stand a chance of being close enough to witness this incredible spectacle.