[NinjaH2Admin]

Jay Leno provides us with a unique perspective being one of a handful to ride both the original and the reincarnated H2. On the latest Garage episode he has Jeff Herzog, Senior PR Coordinator for Kawasaki along for the show as he rides both bikes back to back. What's most fascinating is how true to the spirit of the original Kawasaki got with the newest Ninja.

"When this came out [original H2], OH MY GOD, 74 horsepower, which doesn't sound like anything now, but the Vincent Black Shadow had 55 horsepower and that was considered crazy. So when these came along with 74 and lightweight and of course that power band..."

Back then there really weren't that many ways to go fast, Kawasaki engineered a new way. Compare that with the development of the Ninja H2. Sure there are more ways to go fast now then in the '70's but emissions and regulations have constrained the creativity somewhat. We all know the story about the supercharger, no one could build it, they said it couldn't be done. Kawasaki did it anyways. But its not a new ethos for Kawasaki, very far from it...

"You have to understand how Kawasaki thinks, they think different then the other manufacturers. They're always trying to one up, which I love, when the Honda 750 came out Kawasaki was ready with a 4 stroke and said lets wait, let Honda have their thing. And then they came out with the 900 after that. The z1 was the future, but the last gasp was the 2 stroke. They knew emissions were coming, they knew you wouldn't be able to make these for much longer so they just went kinda all out to build the fastest accelerating production motorcycle you could buy and that's what this is the Kawasaki H2"

Even the riding impressions are difficult to separate from one another. Before Jay swung a leg over the original he gushed poetic about its 'virtues'. "its hard to convey how fast this motorcycle was, I mean it just blew off everything on the street back in the day...its not so much even how fast it was, it felt even faster, when that power band kicked in it was like WOAH, the front end would come up I mean just really really exciting" Sound familiar...its a whole different power band, it just comes on so hard"

If Jay was impressed with the original imagine his joy when riding the Ninja H2 for his first time. "a supercharged motorcycle, is it heavier then a standard sport bike? yea it is a little bit, but I think that doesn't detract from it at all, it still makes it the fastest accelerating motorcycle ever" and the acceleration didn't leave him lacking, it left him speechless "...that midrange torque, to think that H2 was the fastest thing in the world back in the day, I'm mean it couldn't even hold...ahhh unbelievable"

Jay stressed several time through the set that the Ninja H2 "is not a race bike, its a road bike" and stood in awe that Kawasaki even dared to build the thing, "even at 25K a bike I don't even think they break even on these, if this was a European motorcycle it would be $150K easily"

Although you could sum Jays experience up quite succinctly "JEEEESSSSSUUUSSSSSSS" as he screws it on for the first time.

Jeff Herzog isn't the most chatty but Jay does get some interesting tidbits out of the PR man. When discussing the sonic booms on overrun Jeff says "the impeller itself is spinning faster then the speed of sound when its moving in the upper RPMs" and then smacks out every single member of the commentariat with a Turbo Gixxer, "the whole motor was made to take the superchargers power delivery, you can take some of our competitors stuff and put a supercharger on it and get the power out of it, but the crankcase, the crank the rods, the tranny none of that was made to take that kinda power. This thing was made to last and it comes with a warranty"

 

[mr.xr]

If Jay Leno visits this site let me be one on many to welcome you to the 2015 Ninja H2 family.

 

[SilverbirdH2]

I don't think he wanted to upstage Jay...Seemed like Jay was 'asking' tidbit questions,then ANSWERING his own stuff.I would have liked to hear what that Rep had to actually say after being asked.Oh well...excellent vid though...I really liked it.

 

[The Crow]

I always enjoy Jay's videos. I am always impressed with how much of a car and motorcycle guy he really is. He just enjoys the vehicles and the history. He gets that they are all fun, they are just different kinds of fun.

 

[mr.xr]

I don't think he wanted to upstage Jay...Seemed like Jay was 'asking' tidbit questions,then ANSWERING his own stuff.I would have liked to hear what that Rep had to actually say after being asked.Oh well...excellent vid though...I really liked it.

Yeah I agree. I found the intercooler part funny only because the amount of heat being produced by this motor, my freaking foot is the intercooler for the motor. Was on the H2 today and man, my feet felt like they were being steamed. and that's with well vented boots on. I definitely will see how much heat comes off this motor in a TX cold winter.


(side note: for anyone liking to know how it sounds from the riders perspective... this is the closest to actual sounds. It always makes me want to twist the throttle just a bit more)

 

[MF41/H2-72-15]

I've spoken to Leno in the past about H2's in general. It's only recently that he's shown any interest in the original (that due to the new H2). I've owned mine since 1978 and can tell all that it is indeed a visceral, fun ride even to this day. In the day, I put about 60,000 miles on it. Although I would never sell my 72, circa 87, another MC friend chided me on riding an antique so what to get? The newest nastiest out there; a NIB left over 1985 Kawasaki 750 Turbo. So when Ari Henning told me of the new H2 that was coming out, this was a no brainer to add to the collection. The pic attached is my maiden ride to the Rock Store, April 5th with my buddy, Dr Phil Shore on his original H2 (picture courtesy of Victory John taken on Mulholland Highway, Malibu Mountains, CA USA). The other pic is a shot of my 72 H2 and the Turbo bike in the garage. I have three sets of pipes for it. The originals, the Denco pipes (pictured) and new set of Spec II chrome chambers. Otherwise, it's an original survivor that has never been repainted and aside from as few top ends, never screwed with. BTW, I know the 72 bike Leno was riding. It belongs to another friend of mine.

 

[Frio]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing story and pictures...

Frio

 

[The Crow]

What a great collection of Kawasaki's! Hard to argue with an original H2, a new H2, and a GPZ 750 turbo. All Iconic bikes. Very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[Nessuno]

Thats an absolutely fantastic pic, Like Father, Like Son...the cats in the cradle LOL

 

[Ryder]

If Jay Leno visits this site let me be one on many to welcome you to the 2015 Ninja H2 family.

I can bet he already found his way here.

I've watched a lot of his videos and he does his own research and all just like the rest of us, and of course this is one of the top H2 resources.