Let the rumors fly as to what Kawasaki has up its sleeve, because Team Green has registered “Ninja R2” with the US Patent and Trademark office, as well as similar offices internationally.
The trademark application is fairly broad in what the name can be used for, but knowing Kawasaki’s product line, a new motorcycle can be expected from the “Ninja” name.
What that motorcycle could be, is up for debate. Some draw a line between the “Ninja R2” name and the recently revived “Ninja H2” model, and thus see another supercharged machine to come from Kawasaki. Others hear the whispers of a small-displacement sport bike, perhaps one with a stratospheric rev-limit (our pick).
The honest answer is that no one really knows, and the fact that there isn’t an obvious hole for moto-journalists to plug this bike into means we could be in for quite the surprise, as anything is on the table.
Of course, it is just as easy that we could be letting our imaginations get ahead of ourselves, but Kawasaki has slowly shaking off the bonds of the recession.
First updating the Ninja ZX-10R (albeit, detuning the machine for US consumption — thanks EPA), then defining the small-displacement category with the powerful Kawasaki Ninja 300, and just recently blowing the doors off the competition with the supercharged H2 and H2R hyperbikes, clearly Kawasaki hasn’t been holding back its punches.
With the US trademark filed for in August 13, 2013, Kawasaki has had some time to develop its new model, which means we could be seeing it as early this year in teaser or trade show form.
Leave your guess as to what you think the new model could be in the comments. Time will tell who gets a cookie.
Source: USPTO
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