[The Crow]

Just got the official news from Kawasaki that the H2 deliveries are delayed. Kawasaki USA is expecting deliveries to start in March. I can tell you that as a Kawasaki dealer it is not unheard of, or unexpected for a new model to get delayed for one reason or another. My advice if you have an H2 on order is to be patient. I personally have an H2 on order and am excited but knew delays were likely. If anticipation is part of the fun we are having a great time.

​

 

[Juggernaut]

The letter is a nice gesture by Kawasaki. Good to me up to date on whats going on. March isn't too much of a wait.

 

[ninja boy]

Thanks for the update Crow..... very much appreciated.....

I guess it is discouraging, but not the end of the world. I wouldn't want
delivery now anyway, just got 28 inches of the white stuff....can you
say nightmare !!!!!

 

[Ryder]

I just hate that they just say March and don't say when in march we can expect things to happen, i'm sure they at least have some idea of that.

 

[2befast]

Another thanks for sharing.

 

[SilverbirdH2]

"I just hate that they just say March and don't say when in march we can expect things to happen, i'm sure they at least have some idea of that"....don't forget here...first come first served.It would be pretty impossible to give an exact delivery date for any one particular bike.You COULD actually end up getting one EARLIER than March...that's my thought anyway.They started building these in 2014 BEFORE the open ordering.You would be more happy getting it sooner than that March statement...good props if that ends up being YOUR experience.

 

[Kawcollector]

Yes late delivery confirmed, sucks !

I also got the same letter from Kawasaki. I hope they honor whet they said, First come, first served. I ordered my bike paid in full on the third day of open ordering. The word I got is the Southern California ports are packed due to a longshoreman work slow down. Ships offshore can't unload because there is no room in the port. That is really crappy. If the demand was that high at least tell us the numbers. How many sold, how many produced, how many shipped. Also are the overseas bikes being delivered, is the US on the back burner ? Kawasaki could give us more info. My contract even had a vin # on it, the bike should be produced and on the way. I really don't buy what they have told us. I do want the bike, I hope they haven't found problems already, that need fixed before any are delivered. We shall see shortly.

 

[h2rcx]

A kawasaki killing a public display, expo, launch test rider due to mechanical failure would be horrific for the company. Think Monica Lewinski ( there's no cumming back from that one ) sic. Kawasaki were revving the nuts off one in England and if it had launched the engine internals children with cute ear defenders were in the firing line. Stop your worrying. Lets bear in mind us mortals are getting a massive reward for having the balls to buy this bike. Turbo's are sooo limited compared to the reliability of an sc. I mean 4 yrs warranty backed by K Heavy Industry. No oil contamination from the build up of carbon. I consider this bike a reward for brand loyalty. Truly innovative and a delight to the ears and eyes and probally the rectum too.
As for the port problems,,,Kawasaki think so far out the box they could deliver them like they did in Indonesia....Less the theatrics. They are proud of this bike and rightly so.
First come first served ,,yes please, my dealers sold 6 and I have it in the notes of my invoice , "First one allocated."

In Kawasaki I Trust....
p.s. put a new tyre on zx12r today and been out riding. Top tip brake cleaner and scotchbright to wipe down tyre to remove oily shiny film that all new tyres have.

 

[SilverbirdH2]

Yep...totally agree

"Kawasaki think so far out the box"...now THERE'S a winner!Some are forgetting the WHOLE picture with this bike.The years of development and all....and it's future....think BIG guys!Kawasaki KNOWS what they're doingIF it's being delayed...my bet is going on..."resetting the ECU"....on ALL the bikes....that's quite a few right there alone.Don't worry is right....she's gonna be a screamer.4 year warranty?I doubt they'd be offering this if they KNEW(and they DO know) if the bike was gonna take a dump with normal care and feedingThey didn't just slap a bunch of cool parts together and call it "beyond belief".I say...follow the manual maintenance schedules for parts replacement and such....if it's anything like the other models...it's gonna last a LONG time.Lots of smiles...lots of fun

 

[edinlr]

Nice update, but it still makes me wonder. They said January delivery, but now it is changed to March? What does demand have to do with January delivery? Are any going to be delivered in January? How about in February? At four bikes per day, they should have been able to produce and deliver 200+ bikes before March, wonder what the issue is?

 

[SilverbirdH2]

"Yes late delivery confirmed, sucks !"...yes...confirmed...but again....that doesn't necessarily apply to the first ones built...they haven't shipped yet...except to certain areas for shows and a few Dyno pulls.What's that tell ya?That tells me....they ARE ready to go...mechanically.ECU wise?I think we're all gonna get a bit of a surprise when we finally receive our own.

They're building these bikes continuously....most likely...24 hours a day one is being completed.Most likely...several...at least that.

Could be a waiting time...as per the new info...but it's not set in stone I don't think anyway.Some were ready BEFORE the ordering window...some being built as that began...I'm in the front line....ordered mine Nov 4th...9 AM US time.I could very well see one coming to me from that first batch....considering the delay isn't something mechanical that needs some sort of redesign...which I seriously doubt.SERIOUSLY doubt.

It could very well be something simple...but going in depending on what it would actually be could mean a lot of overall time to do every one of em.They had these set up well before the orders started coming in.....that's what makes me think they're gonna surprise us with something good.They are NOT gonna let us guys down here....there's too much a stake in the big picture for Kawasaki's future with motorcycles.

I got told January as well....I'm okay with a delay...things happen......doesn't change what I'll be getting....We know there's been no actual hard numbers proveable as to how many were built...or how many will be built...so trying to 'explain' a delay with so little info is kind of an exercise in futility.It would be totally explainable if we KNEW the total sales and all.They did say....'because the demand was not as they anticipated'...okay....that's NOW...for the ones being built NOW...well after the window was ending to fill those orders.OURS are already done...that's my opinion.And waiting to go.Anyone who ordered early on...their bike is done....I believe that.

Could be they want to get these out with a certain timing....I think so...I don't think it's about something not being okay with the build.As was mentioned before...delays with new models isn't new....especially with something built this uniquely.That's a lot of 'hand built bikes' they've got going on.

 

[GoFaster]

Nice update, but it still makes me wonder. They said January delivery, but now it is changed to March? What does demand have to do with January delivery? Are any going to be delivered in January? How about in February? At four bikes per day, they should have been able to produce and deliver 200+ bikes before March, wonder what the issue is?

IIRC they originally said deliveries "starting" in January without saying a thing about which parts of the world will get them first. The March delivery appears to be for US bikes.

It would appear that at least a small number have been built, and apparently delivered to Malaysia, so they are not wrong about deliveries "starting" in January. Wouldn't surprise me if they fill the orders in Asia first, and build the bikes in batches depending on destination.

There is really no purpose for me to take delivery before April. The outside temperature display in my car showed -19 C at one point on the way back home from dinner today ...

 

[SilverbirdH2]

"There is really no purpose for me to take delivery before April"...it's okay Go....keep telling yerself thatLOL...you KNOW you want this thing..snow,rain,sleet,hail...just...to HAVE itI hear ya!!!!LOL!.(I'm telling myself the same thing)

Ahhhh...she gets here when she gets here....

 

[The Crow]

"I just hate that they just say March and don't say when in march we can expect things to happen, i'm sure they at least have some idea of that"....don't forget here...first come first served.It would be pretty impossible to give an exact delivery date for any one particular bike.You COULD actually end up getting one EARLIER than March...that's my thought anyway.They started building these in 2014 BEFORE the open ordering.You would be more happy getting it sooner than that March statement...good props if that ends up being YOUR experience.

Kawasaki is not going to be overly specific on delivery timing. It is like when my wife asks "what time will you be home?" I never say 10 pm or whatever. why? You know why, because when I get home at 10:30, 11:00 or whenever time what is she going to say? I thought you were going to be here at 10 pm. Maybe your wives are cooler than mine. I always qualify my answers. "Should be home about 10 pm, honey, I love you."


So along that line of thinking. The paperwork at the time these bikes were ordered said deliveries starting in January.


Don't worry guys, soon enough there will be pictures of bikes getting uncrated, first ride videos, opinions, someone will not be happy about something, heck, some are already upset and we don't even have the bikes yet. Soon enough we will be discussing modifications, accessories, and hopefully some H2 ride get togethers.


Also there are lots of things that can delay production. Such as outside vendors. If for instance Brembo was having a problem delivering the brake calipers to Kawasaki this would delay production. Kawasaki can't ship out bike with out brake calipers. (I have not heard of any problems with Brembo, this is just and example)

 

[SilverbirdH2]

Yup...totally right.Good point there Crow....


****..if a guy wanted..he could argue.."those other guys(Ricky and whomever else)got THEIRS before January....the SHOWS got THEIRS before January...why not mine?

Who really cares when?I don't.They'll be here soon enough...like you said...all this 'being upset'(or whatever)about some January date....won't be even entering our minds when she arrives.

 

[GoFaster]

Pre-production and prototype builds are a whole different ball game from mass production.

I work in the automotive industry (on the supplier / engineering side) and I see this all the time.

Rickey Gadson's bike was a pre-production build, or possibly even a prototype build.

The purpose of a prototype build is to make sure all the parts fit together as designed, sort out any assembly issues, make sure stuff basically works as intended, etc. The parts are frequently made by hand on prototype tooling. The production tooling is not ready and may not even exist yet. The vehicle may not even be completely at "design freeze" yet. If something doesn't fit together properly, etc they can still tweak the design.

Then there is pre-production build. This is a set of vehicles used for validation testing and they are built using the production tooling, but not necessarily using the production processes. The North American manufacturers call this PPAP (pre-production assessment program). The production tooling exists, but does not necessarily "run at rate" (run at the specified cycle time). If there are problems discovered during validation testing, things may need to change. And it happens all the time.

All it takes is for ONE part to require a design change to screw up the production scheduling!

I'm in the midst of another situation right now, in which the next version of a car that you would all recognize the name of but which I will not name (!), got most of the way through tooling build and into pre-production build where they built several vehicles for crash testing, only to discover that the real world did not agree with the computer simulation, and the vehicle failed side impact! OOPS!

The engineering fix for this requires another brace to be designed, built (with new tooling!) and welded in with something like 40 more spot-welds per side ... except that the existing robots cannot do this in the specified cycle time, so they need 2 more robots per side ... except that those 2 new robots won't fit within the existing line layout, the line has to be made longer with another station to accommodate them ... except the building that this line was destined for, with space already allocated for it, has the existing line layout just barely fitting between the two main aisles, which can't be moved without expanding the building!

The only good thing about that situation, is that I didn't design it! I can place a "somebody else's problem" field around the whole situation.

Production delays happen for a multitude of reasons ... it's called "reality".

 

[SilverbirdH2]

If they had to make some last minute adjustments to something...I'm fine with that.Better now than somewhere on the roadThey did say 'because of the demand" thing.That was their primary statement about later deliveries.They also seemed to stress...'quality'.So it COULD be something originally installed isn't meeting those standards...which is also okay.

All this tells me that THIS bike is being VERY CAREFULLY released.They don't want anything to smudge the reputation that goes with the bike or the company.Whatever they 'need' to do to deliver a quality bike...I'm good with.I have my 14R which I LOVE...so I'm cool with whatever they have to do to get this totally right.

 

[Fireball36]

Thanks for the info. This matters to me!

I can wait. Just barely - but I can wait.

Greg

 

[Ryder]

If they had to make some last minute adjustments to something...I'm fine with that.Better now than somewhere on the roadThey did say 'because of the demand" thing.That was their primary statement about later deliveries.They also seemed to stress...'quality'.So it COULD be something originally installed isn't meeting those standards...which is also okay.

All this tells me that THIS bike is being VERY CAREFULLY released.They don't want anything to smudge the reputation that goes with the bike or the company.Whatever they 'need' to do to deliver a quality bike...I'm good with.I have my 14R which I LOVE...so I'm cool with whatever they have to do to get this totally right.

I completely agree with that.
the worst is being stuck out on the road, rather have them do any fixes/updates while i'm not on the road.

 

[pebble35]

Just got back from a few days with people from Kawasaki UK - test riding the new Versys 1000 and 650 in southern Spain - sometimes my job really sucks !

Took the opportunity to ask about H2 delivery schedules and they also confirmed late March as the start point for deliveries with a global press launch just before deliveries start.