[NinJAHfu]

Fact is, engines paired with turbo's or superchargers help with getting more power and good fuel economy for the power it puts out. But what will long term reliability be like? Will used Ninja H2's, a few years old, that have racked up thousands of miles experience a number of problems?

 

[JohnA]

reliability

Fact is, engines paired with turbo's or superchargers help with getting more power and good fuel economy for the power it puts out. But what will long term reliability be like? Will used Ninja H2's, a few years old, that have racked up thousands of miles experience a number of problems?

I had a zx750turbo back in the eighties and loved it to bits.
Reliability wasn't its main strength though - the more complicated the system, the more is there to go wrong.
Being new designs, there will be teething problems most likely. Remember the first Ninjas were eating cams etc? The problems with the fist VFRs? It usually takes a few years to iron out the bugs.

JohnA

 

[Klotzo]

You do have a good point but that was then and this is now. I would like to think Kawasaki has most of the bigger bugs work out. But of course this first will have some things to smoothen out before we are out in the clear.

 

[Yamasuki]

You can't write off the concerns because this is now and then was then. Johns point still stands, complexity is more vulnerable than simplicity. You're only as strong as your weakest point.

I'm curious about the engine mostly, is it a tried and true mill with a super bolted on or a completely new ground up design?

 

[KNH2]

I had a zx750turbo back in the eighties and loved it to bits.
Reliability wasn't its main strength though - the more complicated the system, the more is there to go wrong.
Being new designs, there will be teething problems most likely. Remember the first Ninjas were eating cams etc? The problems with the fist VFRs? It usually takes a few years to iron out the bugs.

JohnA

I sure do remember those issues, fortunately I was on an N/A bike while buddies of mine went turbo.

 

[OKH2]

I'm willing to bet reliability will be typical of all of today's Kawasaki products. I've owned a garage full of Kawi's since 2005 and not one had a single issue. I never even really thought about it until this thread came up. Wow! that's 12 different Kawasaki vehicles, including a Teryx, and no issues at all.

 

[pebble35]

Fact is, engines paired with turbo's or superchargers help with getting more power and good fuel economy for the power it puts out. But what will long term reliability be like? Will used Ninja H2's, a few years old, that have racked up thousands of miles experience a number of problems?

In the UK the H2 will have a 2 year factory warranty (unlimited mileage), with an option to buy a further 2 years at a sensible cost. Sounds like Kawasaki have faith in their product so I see no reason not to think the same way !

 

[GoFaster]

There is not really all that much more to this engine than a standard non-supercharged engine. The supercharger module has an extra chain drive and a planetary gear set and it's fed by the engine's normal oil supply in the crankcase. A centrifugal compressor is a "nice" load - very steady torque to drive the impeller - not like a piston compressor or Roots blower or anything of that sort. The fuel injection is same level of complexity as ZX10R. The bypass valve is an extra piece that a normal engine doesn't have, but there isn't really much to it.

What this engine will probably *not* tolerate, is people mucking around with the fuel injection mapping while not knowing what they are doing. You can have an "oops" in the fuel delivery or ignition timing to a normal engine and it will just make more or less power. An "oops" here is much more likely to cause a meltdown. With a normal engine you can get away with setting full-load fuel delivery and ignition timing for max power output and, for the most part, not worry about it. An attempt to do so on a forced-induction engine might make more power for a little while ... and then melt a piston.

We already know Rickey Gadson got big power output by leaning his out. But he's running full load for 8 seconds at a time. There is likely a difference between the "intermittent" power rating and the "continuous" power rating.

Granted, how many of us street riders are going to be able to run at 300 hp continuous power output for long periods? I sure can't!