Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Kawasaki Ninja H2R

Browsing
Bikes

Up-Close with the Kawasaki Ninja H2R

By 21 Comments

Asphalt & Rubber is coming to you live from the AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida today and tomorrow, covering the new bikes that are debuting on North American soil. We’ve already seen the new Yamaha YZF-R3 released here, as well as the Alta RedShift electric motorcycles (formerly BRD Motorcycles).

While both bikes are impressive, and are massively important to the American motorcycle scene, the buzz remains about the Kawasaki Ninja H2R. The AIMExpo is the first venue for Americans to get a glimpse of Kawasaki’s hyperbike, and the H2R sits like a praying mantis, waiting to strike you with its supercharged charms.

Naturally, we had to get a closer look…and bring you a bevy of high-resolution detail shots from the trades how floor. Enjoy!

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Is This How Much the Kawasaki Ninja H2R Will Cost? Nope.

By 8 Comments

It has certainly been interesting to see the buzz around the Kawasaki Ninja H2 these past few weeks, especially as everyone tries to cash in on the supercharged hype-machine that Kawasaki has been running.

First we saw Motorcycle.com just create a story out of thin air, to help its owner VerticalScope promote a new web property. That was…uhh…the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen while in this industry, not to mention just sloppy journalism. Now lately we have seen a supposed dealer invoice for the track-only Kawasaki Ninja H2R, with a price tag just north of $60,000.

Many publications have latched onto that price point — which isn’t the craziest conclusion to come to, considering that the H2R is Kawasaki’s halo-bike project, and will likely cost a pretty penny — though with just a quick glance, we can see that the alleged paperwork has clearly been a work of Photoshop, and not inside information.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Watch the Kawasaki Ninja H2R Rip It Up on the Track

By 26 Comments

We will be talking about the Kawasaki Ninja H2R for quite a while we suspect, even well after the dust has settled on the hyperbike’s launch. A supercharged 300hp track-only macine doesn’t come from one of the Japanese Four too often (read: ever), and what it means for the industry is still being assessed by pundits and enthusiasts alike.

For now, it has our ADD-like attention, just as Kawasaki begins teasing out its 200hp Ninja H2 street bike. So while we wait for the H2 to drop, here’s a video of the H2R doing its thing around the race track. For those of you wondering how 300hp is going to hook up in the tight and twisty, here is your answer.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

LEAKED: First Image of the Kawasaki Ninja H2 Street Bike

By 22 Comments

Just last week the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, KHI’s supercharged track-only 300hp beast of a hyperbike, debuted at INTERMOT. The reception of the H2R was astounding, and Kawasaki has certainly laid down the gauntlet with the design, philosophy, and execution of its latest Ninja.

Kawasaki’s test riders are already reporting on social media speeds over 210 mph, and we eagerly await Kawasaki’s street-legal Ninja H2.

Set to debut at the AIMExpo in two weeks’ time, it seems the first image of the machine has leaked ahead of schedule. Caught in what looks like an early release of Kawasaki’s next teaser video, we can make out the lines of the Ninja H2 street bike.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Kawasaki Ninja H2R – Officially 300hp of Hyperbike

By 56 Comments

It is finally time for the Kawasaki Ninja H2R to become officially official. No more teaser videos with weird chirps, no more fake news stories for pageviews, no more leaked photos (x2)…now we finally get to see what all the hype is about with this hyperbike.

Though now that the time is here, it is hard to say something new about the 2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2R that hasn’t already been said. Rebirthing a name that is synonymous with the original superbike war between the Japanese manufactures, Kawasaki has reinstated an old game, and made a bold first move.

At the heart of the new Ninja H2R is a supercharged 998cc inline-four engine which produces 300hp horsepower. You did not read that figure incorrectly. Wrapped around it is a fetching steel-tube trellis frame.

Building a machine that conformed only to Kawasaki’s own desires to make the ultimate motorcycle, it is perhaps refreshing to see a sport bike that isn’t constrained by the rules of a racing series — though Kawasaki has some racing in mind with its carbon-fiber dripping Ninja H2R model.

Essentially a rolling showcase for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the Japanese OEM hopes that the H2R will serve as a halo product for the rest of the company’s motorcycles, similar to what the Ducati 1199 Superleggera does for the Italian brand, as well as the Japanese firm’s work with its other subsidiaries.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

OMG: Leaked Hi-Res Photos of the Kawasaki Ninja H2R

By 40 Comments

In five hours the Kawasaki Ninja H2 will officially debut at INTERMOT…of course, the internet waits for no motorbike. In addition to the first leaked photo we brought you, we now have a bevy of high-resolution images of the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, the racing sibling to the H2.

Several sites now are tipping the Kawasaki Ninja H2R as making 300 horsepower from its 998cc inline-four engine, a number that is achieved by the H2 & H2R’s centrifugal supercharger. That figure is much larger than some publications were reporting from their “sources” inside Kawasaki — or were just fabricating wholesale to get pageviews.

Keep Reading
By