When Kawasaki dropped the Ninja H2R in 2015, it didn't just join the horsepower wars, it rewrote the rulebook with 300-plus horsepower. This wasn't a warmed-over superbike or a track-day toy with slicks. It was a full-throttle, supercharged lunatic pushing out 321.5 hp all from a 998cc inline-four that screamed like a jet till its 14,000 rpm redline and hit like a sledgehammer. It wasn't just fast, it was, and still is, wild. Complete with carbon winglets to keep the front end down, aerospace-grade tech developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and more fancy parts and electronics that made one thing clear; it wanted to go places where other motorcycles couldn't follow .
It was never intended to be ridden on public roads, and it makes no apologies about that. In 2016, World Supersport's winningest rider, Kenan Sofuoğlu hit 248.5 mph on a bone-stock H2R across the Osman Gazi Bridge in Turkey. That feat alone locked its place in the speed record books. Top speed, however, isn't the whole story. The H2R is surely fast on a closed course like the Isle of Man TT, but for a motorcycle of its caliber, the 0-60 mph times may not be as quick as you'd imagine it to be.
Here's where the supercharged H2R starts to lose ground to more conventional rivals. While it's the fastest factory-built motorcycle in terms of top speed, it's not the quickest from a standstill. Its 0-60 time hovers around 2.9 seconds. Impressive, but not unbeatable. Several liter bikes like the Ducati Panigale V4 S, the BMW S1000RR, and Yamaha YZF-R1M clock sub-3.0-second times for a 0-60 run, and even electric motorcycles like the Energica Ego+ RS are capable of matching or beating that mark. Heck, even the H2R's tamer sibling, the street-legal Kawasaki Ninja H2, which makes 240 hp, can clock a 0-60 mph run in 2.6 seconds.
The H2R is equipped with Kawasaki's suite of electronic rider aids, including its launch control mode and traction control, to help manage all that power. And they become its Achilles heel, hindering initial progress off the line as they try to put down all that power on a credit-card-sized contact patch of the rear wheel. Getting the most out of it off the line requires ideal conditions and expert throttle hand. Mind you, it's still blisteringly fast at the top end, clocking 0-180 mph in 11.77 seconds and 0-200 mph in 16.83 seconds, but if your benchmark is 0-60 times, the H2R shares company with a handful of other superbikes.
Kawasaki Media
There's a reason you don't see H2Rs lined up at traffic lights. The bike isn't street legal in the U.S. or just about anywhere else. It lacks headlights, mirrors, turn signals, and it doesn't comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's noise or emissions regulations. It wasn't engineered for balance between daily usability and top-end performance. It was designed to break barriers. Most other production bikes tap out at 186 mph due to the infamous gentleman's agreement between manufacturers. The H2R chuckles at that and keeps pulling to its insane factory-spec top speed, just as long as you have access to a race track, a runway, or a long, closed-off suspension bridge.
The H2R is still a performance icon, but the undisputed king of speed? It's arguably the fastest factory-built motorcycle, one that can simply be bought from the showroom, packed with 300-plus horsepower. In fact, it's one of the cheapest ways to go fast. But is the H2R the quickest bike you can buy from a dealership? In terms of raw acceleration, it's part of a crowded pack.
Still, what it loses in launch finesse, it makes up with sheer, terrifying top-end velocity. Oh, and Kawasaki, if you're reading this, will you please let us ride your other supercharged bike?
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