After the release of the insanely quick Ninja H2R complete with supercharger, the team at Kawasaki had another bright idea – putting one in a sports tourer.
The end result is their new H2 SX, with a claimed top speed of more than 180mph, and 0 – 60mph in just 3.04 seconds.
Bike Magazine have just completed 5,000 miles on one, over the course of a rather long weekend which included a ride to the northern tip of the Germany-Poland border, a 171mph autobahn blast, and a quick trip to Gibraltar before heading for the ferry in northern France.
Despite being a tourer, Kawasaki decided that the H2 SX needed something more than sport touring rubber to make best use of all that power on tap.
For that reason, they opted to fit Bridgestone’s latest Battlax S21 hypersport tyre, which benefits from technologies derived from their time at the helm of MotoGP.
In their review in the new issue of Bike, tester Phil Weston said:
“I was amazed by the tyres.
The grip throughout the trip was very good – in the snow and wet, and in the twisty stuff near Monaco – so I assumed that 5,000 miles would easily wear out the rear.
But although it was squared off a bit, it still had plenty of life in it.
The front looked barely used.”
Not bad on a bike with 150bhp and so much torque!
For the full review of the new Kawasaki, pick up the latest copy of Bike.
Find out more about the Battlax S21 here.
