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Kawasaki H2 - 998cc, supercharged, 300HP
- Thread starter HodgdonExtreme
- Start date
Read up on her & looks to be a track bike?? Will have to use major traction control as 1/2 that much horsepower will spit you off very quickly. Anthony
Yep, looks to be air inlets where headlamps would go if it were a road legal bike.
Guessing it'd take a helluva rider to keep the rear wheel hooked.
Guessing it'd take a helluva rider to keep the rear wheel hooked.
A lot different than the H2 I had in the early 70's........couldn't wait to get on the Z1
What a bunch of Antiques
What a bunch of Antiques
I give it 10 years and they will be a seatbelt for these types. why you ask? because soon you will be off the ground.
I'm so old, I remember the original H2, 750 two strokes….
Which were owned by the Z-1 900s, after the 1/4 mile.
Which were owned by the Z-1 900s, after the 1/4 mile.
I have owned many sport bikes over the years from 1986 - 2003 (600R, 750R, ZX7, ZX10, ZX11) and GSXR 1000 but 300hp is too much for a bike as I don't see how you would keep it under control off the line. Might make a good bike for the salt flats getting up to speed in a straight line but not sure about this as a daily driver or even a regular track bike (don't think supercharged bikes are legal but this may have changed. Been out of the loop for some time). I can only imagine what the insurance would cost and if you are under 25 and single...forget about it unless you have a trust fund.
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Too much for me. My s1000rr has...what...184? And I never find myself thinking "I need more". But I'm sure there are riders out there that can make good use of it
Heres what ~600hp Turbo Busa can do with some slick fairing and likely whole bunch of other odds and ends(RIP Mr Warner) on an airstrip:
Bill Warner 300 MPH Loring Unedited Version - YouTube
And probably close to the same amount of power(550-600hp or so) on a 1/4mi:
Turbo Jester Hayabusa Prostreet 7.3@199mph pass - YouTube
Far as a bike for twisty turny tracks, theres likely few riders who can make use of that power on that wheelbase. Hell, likely few riders who can make use of that power in a straightline with that wheelbase. I bet its fun though. Main thing Im interested in is how stout these engines are built. There could very well be something here if these engines are built to tote around 300hp with the reliability of a factory bike. What Im saying is, we could just might see this engine become a serious presence in drag racing with one of these or similar hanging off the exhaust mani:
Garrett Turbos : Garrett GT4088R
Current Turbo Kits : Super ULTRA? Turbo System for 1999-2007 Hayabusa 650hp
Bill Warner 300 MPH Loring Unedited Version - YouTube
And probably close to the same amount of power(550-600hp or so) on a 1/4mi:
Turbo Jester Hayabusa Prostreet 7.3@199mph pass - YouTube
Far as a bike for twisty turny tracks, theres likely few riders who can make use of that power on that wheelbase. Hell, likely few riders who can make use of that power in a straightline with that wheelbase. I bet its fun though. Main thing Im interested in is how stout these engines are built. There could very well be something here if these engines are built to tote around 300hp with the reliability of a factory bike. What Im saying is, we could just might see this engine become a serious presence in drag racing with one of these or similar hanging off the exhaust mani:
Garrett Turbos : Garrett GT4088R
Current Turbo Kits : Super ULTRA? Turbo System for 1999-2007 Hayabusa 650hp
I got to look at a couple of them in Cöln yesterday. They are even crazier looking in person. 4 wings on the front of it to keep the front down. There was also a cutaway engine on display. Pics incoming...
Isn't that near the nurburgring? You need to be the first to publish a ring drive on that thing!
This has half the power of my ZL1 at maybe 1/5th the weight. Betcha it's a bit of a handful.
I'm very curious to see the final production configuration. A small-displacement engine with liter-bike power would make a lot more sense, but the sportbike market hasn't been anything about making sense for a long time. There likely will be two types of buyers - the frat boys who ride helmetless in flip-flops and tank-tops, and baby boomers who have yet another excuse to talk about how fast the ZX-11 was "back in the day".
Snark aside, it'd be awesome to park this in my garage next to a Hellcat.
I'm very curious to see the final production configuration. A small-displacement engine with liter-bike power would make a lot more sense, but the sportbike market hasn't been anything about making sense for a long time. There likely will be two types of buyers - the frat boys who ride helmetless in flip-flops and tank-tops, and baby boomers who have yet another excuse to talk about how fast the ZX-11 was "back in the day".
Snark aside, it'd be awesome to park this in my garage next to a Hellcat.
Nothing ever 4 Stroking rates the name H2
That designation, H1, and H2 were known, notorious even, for the insanity that hit at 3500 - 4500 rpms as those 2 Stroke triples hit their powerband. What followed was usually the grist of a shit filled Levi's story, or one of conquering a monster and living to tell about it
Kawasaki needs to rethink the naming of this 4 Stroke hyper bike, and let teh venerable name of H2 harken back to a historic bit of insanity, or maybe, just maybe, make a new version of 750cc's of 2 stroke insanity for real bike enthusiasts to go after, not the foot dragging dilettantes on the street
That designation, H1, and H2 were known, notorious even, for the insanity that hit at 3500 - 4500 rpms as those 2 Stroke triples hit their powerband. What followed was usually the grist of a shit filled Levi's story, or one of conquering a monster and living to tell about it
Kawasaki needs to rethink the naming of this 4 Stroke hyper bike, and let teh venerable name of H2 harken back to a historic bit of insanity, or maybe, just maybe, make a new version of 750cc's of 2 stroke insanity for real bike enthusiasts to go after, not the foot dragging dilettantes on the street
I think the 2 stroke is dead but maybe the way the supercharger hits is reminiscent of a two stroke? What interests me is this kind of power on a bike that's not closing in on 600lbs!
I'm interested in the type of power and hit you get if the rumors are true about the two speed supercharger. Wonder if it'll be like the old two stroke powerband.
Superchargers by their nature run pressure from idle up. A turbocharger, however, has lag and can act like a 2 stroke hit when it hits it's cams and spool up.
As to 2 strokes being dead, not quite yet. They are still the 250 is still the best dirt bike. Been thinking about a Super Moto...YZ250 based, just for running back and forth to school...and a little hoonin' around
As to 2 strokes being dead, not quite yet. They are still the 250 is still the best dirt bike. Been thinking about a Super Moto...YZ250 based, just for running back and forth to school...and a little hoonin' around
Ah yes, true BUT I bet they delay the delivery quite late in the curve, peaky like a two stroke maybe? As for the dirtbike, I will be the first to say Im out of my lane on the subject as I have always been on the street, but it seems a lot of the newest dirtbikes I see are 4 strokes? Even the full on race ones?
The reason for the two-speed supercharger drive is the non-linear flow rate of centrifugal blowers. They probably overdrive the blower at low engine speeds, and then slow it down (relative to the crankshaft) in the upper end. Otherwise, such a supercharger might build too little boost at the lower end to be of much benefit.
One can see why production cars use positive-displacement blowers...
One can see why production cars use positive-displacement blowers...
I predict we'll see 2 strokes come back in a BIG way once gasoline direct injection becomes more prolific.
2 strokes have way fewer moving parts and are far simpler machines than 4 strokes. Their power/weight and power/displacement ratios are untouchable by a 4 stroke.
The problem? There is no (known) way to avoid having both the intake port and exhaust port at least partially open at the same time - providing an easy path for unburned fuel to pass straight through from intake to exhaust. This increases the fuel consumption unnecessarily and is HELL for emissions.
Gasoline direct injection allows you to wait until the exhaust port is fully closed before introducing fuel to the cylinder, totally solving the excessive fuel consumption (more on that later) and emission problem intrinsic to the two stroke.
The key engineering problem to be solved, however, is that unburned fuel that passes across the 2 stroke cylinder helps cool everything done - a feature lost with GDI. Extra steps will have to be taken to keep the thermal loads under control. Remember, the 2 stroke piston/cylinder doesn't get 630º of crankshaft rotation to "rest and cool down" before the next combustion event the same way the 4 stroke does. Instead, it only gets 270º.
I think the OEMs use positive displacement blowers because they're a lot easier to package - particularly on "V" engines where they nestle in real nice in the valley - even room for a charge cooler in there.
For smaller engines that need to "act" like bigger engines - turbos are [obviously] used more because their BSFC is better than blowers, and the specific output (hp/L) is better.
That helps, too, but most customers would not accept the characteristic power curve of a centrifugal supercharger in those applications. The whole point of those supercharged engines is to provide big peak power numbers without any compromises on the low end.
Drag racers make very good use of centrifugal superchargers, though - the steep airflow curve is of little consequence (and in fact, can be quite beneficial in getting the car off the line).
Turbos totally kick superchargers' collective ass, at least in applications where packaging and heat rejection are not an issue. Not only are turbochargers more efficient, but they also allow potentially better control of airflow at various engine load points.
I'd like to see a motorcycle OEM give turbocharging another shot, as hopefully the current generation of consumers don't have too many lingering bad memories of the 1980s:
Neat idea, (somewhat) poor execution; obviously, the automotive OEMs and motorcycle aftermarket have proved that much has changed for the better in the past 30 years.
Bimota gave that a shot back in the late 90s with the awesome V-Due:
OddBike: Bimota V-Due 500 - The Bike That Killed Bimota
I also remember the name "Orbital" from that era, but I don't think they fielded any production hardware of note. Granted, the technology was not well-evolved at that time, where as GDI is pretty common nowadays.
Bolting a custom turbo set up onto a Yamaha FJ1200 opened my eyes up to WTF!?!?!?!? acceleration. When my Honda CB650 was undergoing a jump to 714, X-Cycle race cams, a Superflow exhaust, and some other work related to furthering that cafe thing, I was loaned a choice of two 'shop' bikes. the turbo FJ, or a Kawasaki KZ1300(bored and stroked 1000). The KZ just was not 'streetable' enough but the FJ was far better under 55mph. Why WTF!?!?!?!?!! Acceleration? Because the initial ride found a shift into 3rd, looking down at the speedo read an insane 170mph.
The old 2 strokes of Japan, those samurai swords of the wangan/banzai runners 500's, 400's, 250's, those things were so much insane fun it should have been outlawed...cops couldn't touch them.
Make a new 2 stroke for the street? Simply forget about lube issues and use a bit of 60% castrol nitro methane and run the bitch til it melts
The old 2 strokes of Japan, those samurai swords of the wangan/banzai runners 500's, 400's, 250's, those things were so much insane fun it should have been outlawed...cops couldn't touch them.
Make a new 2 stroke for the street? Simply forget about lube issues and use a bit of 60% castrol nitro methane and run the bitch til it melts
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