Become a Member: Get Ad-Free Access to 3,000+ Reviews, Guides, & More
Mark Hinchliffe·
KawasakiBy manufacturerMotorbikes
··1 min read

Kawasaki Ninja H2 modified to drag

Kawasaki Ninja H2
Ricker with the modified Ninja H2

http://youtu.be/SBP37Sk1mgU

The supercharged Kawasaki Ninja H2 is the fastest accelerating production bike in the world and with a few tweaks it is ready for the drag strip.

American dragracing champion Rickey Gadson has taken a H2 and lengthened and lightened it to produce an  8.213-second quarter mile time at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.

Kawasaki Ninja H2
Ricker with the modified Ninja H2

The supercharged Kawasaki Ninja H2 will cost $33,000 (plus on-road costs) in Australia and the track-only H2R will cost $60,000 (obviously no on-road costs) when they arrive early next year.

The hand-built street-legal Kawasaki Ninja H2 has 147.2kW (200ps/197hp) of power at 11,000rpm and 133.5Nm of torque at 10,5000rpm, but the supercharger boosts that to 154.5kW (210ps/207hp) and 140.4Nm.

So Rickey felt he didn’t need to play with the engine.

Instead he just replaced the wheels with lighter Brock’s Performance BST carbon fibre units and swapped the factory swingarm with an Adams Strong Arm.

The new radical swingarm extends the wheelbase from 1455mm to 1714mm while the wheels and swingarm shaved 5.4kg off the rear of the bike.

A quarter mile time of 8.2s is pretty good on a cold day. Imagine what he could have done on a hot strip with the H2R which has 228kW (310ps/305hp) at 14,000rpm and 165Nm of torque at 12,500rpm. With maximum ram air, power literally blows out to 240kW (326ps/321hp). 

We’d like to see that!

Kawasaki Ninja H2

  • Prices: H2 $33,000 (+ORC)
  • Engine: liquid-cooled, 4-valve, 998cc, DOHC, in-line, 4-cylinder
  • Power: H2 147.2kW @ 11,000rpm (154.5kW supercharged)
  • Torque: H2 133.5Nm @ 10,5000rpm (140.4Nm supercharged)
  • Bore and stroke: 76x55mm
  • Compression: 8.5:1
  • Fuel system: EFI 50mmx4 with dual injection
  • Intake: Kawasaki supercharger
  • Lubrication: forced, wet sump with oil cooler
  • Transmission: 6-speed, return, dog-ring, wet multi-disc clutch, chain drive
  • Primary reduction ratio: 1.551 (76/49)
  • Ratios 1st: 3.188 (51/16)Kawasaki Ninja H2
  • 2nd: 2.526 (48/19)
  • 3rd: 2.045 (45/22)
  • 4th: 1.727 (38/22)
  • 5th: 1.524 (32/21)
  • 6th: 1.348 (31/23)
  • Finale reduction: 2.444 (44/18)
  • Length: 2085mmKawasaki Ninja H2
  • Width: 770mm
  • Height: 1125mm
  • Wheelbase: 1455mm
  • Clearance: 130mm
  • Seat: 825mm
  • Wet weight: 238kg
  • Fuel tank: 17 litres
  • Rake: 24.7 degreesKawasaki Ninja H2
  • Trail: 108mm
  • Steering angle: 27 degrees
  • Frame: trellis, high-tensile steel with swingers mounting plate
  • Wheel travel: 120mm (front), 135mm
  • Tyres: 120/70ZR17M/C (58W); 200/55ZR17M/C (78W)
  • Suspension: 43mm inverted KYB forks with rebound and compression damping, spring preload adjustability and top-out springs; Uni-Trak with gas-charged KYB shock, piggyback reservoir, dual-range (high/low-speed) compression damping, rebound damping and preload adjustability, and top-out spring
  • Brakes: Dual semi-floating 330mm discs, dual radial-mount callipers, opposed 4-piston (front);  250mm disc, opposed 2-piston calliper