Road to 400km/h. Maximum Speed Test for KAWASAKI H2R

How Much Power can 310ps NINJA H2R Really Offer?

NINJA H2R is mounted with KAWASAKI’s Super Charger Engine. Young Machine, Japanese motorcycle magazine, took a speed test on the oval circuit to confirm the maximum output of the 310ps.
Risks are inevitable at high speed tests. Test riders Maruyama and Tsuruta agreed that they will be keep 250km/h at the bank and there will be no ego battle.
To check the condition of the oval circuit, Maruyama took a ride on a stock H2R.
Unexpectedly he hit an observation result of 332km/h; meter display 355km/h. And these results forced Tsuruta to break into battle mode.

The 332km/h that the stock H2R hit (meter display: 355km/h) was just a prologue. Maruyama and Tsuruta got onto TRICK STAR H2R specified for maximum speed soon after for the actual test ride.
Tsuruta, who is also an owner of the machine was the first to hit 335km/h; a speed slightly higher than the stock H2R. On the second lap he marked 348.91km/h which is faster than the 348.26km/h record that Team 38 made at Mojave Air & Spaceport in Northern America last year (conditions differ).
In this situation it was impossible for Maruyama to stay calm. He totally forgot his words to ”take it easy” and was on the TRICK STAR H2R with throttle wide open and entering banks at high speed as he burst into straight track. Finally, he made over 350km/h (meter record : 385km/h).
Tsuruta couldn’t stand losing because he actually owns the machine. At his first chance, he exceeded Maruyama’s braking point and bursted through the straight track making a cut off sound of the rev limiter. The record that he made was 352.99km/h (meter record: 385km/h) A record made by perversely.
At first, the 400km/h challenge sounded like a joke. But this test ride gave it a sense of reality. Wonder if we’re having another chance.

Afterword

H2R is too big for Japan. If we get a chance, we’ll test ride it overseas.

How did the maximum test rides go. There was a lot of talk going on that the H2R performs high speed but we didn’t know for sure. But on this ocassion we were able to test ride both stock H2R and TRICK STAR H2R on the oval circuit. For the first time the true ability was exposed in Japan.
The results were, observation result 352.99km/h meter display 385km/h. Come to think of it, a decade ago we were stumbling to exceed over 300km/h. But H2R has allowed us to jump over the border with ease. It has pulled maximum speed up to a totally new territory.
It’s surprising that it hit the record on its first challenge after only several laps. In other words it has capability to improve. It’s obvious that the final gear can be improved.
400km/h is no longer an armchair theory. Any rider would be keen to experience it.
If the circuits of Japan are too narrow for the H2R, it should be tested at a suitable facility overseas where it can fully exert its power. The impact of this test ride was enough to draw such a dream.

Information of the vehicle used in this test.

Ninja H2R TRICK STAR RACING Ver.

Ninja H2R, tuned and customized by TRICK STAR. To be prepared for the challenge, final gear ratio has been modified to correspond to 380km/h. It is also equipped with TRICK STAR Full Exhaust.

Ninja H2R

It was the first model mounted with super charger when it was released in 2015. Racing model of the popular H2. H2 exerts 200ps and H2R exerts 310ps, featuring the ability of the super charger.

Profile of Test Riders

Hiroshi Maruyama
Test Driver of Monthly Young Machine/President of With Me (A company that deals with a variety of business involved with two and four wheel drives) Best test rider in Japan for 0-400m test rides.
Maruyama has been involved in various test rides and it was the first time for him to hit 350km/h. He says that when he’s on HAYABUSA or ZX-14R, the circuits feels wide but with H2R it felt narrow. Normally the vehicle can rally banks at speed over 300km/h, however for this test we gave up in consideration of the durability of the tire.

Ryuji Tsuruta
CEO of TRICK STAR, a company that specializes in manufacturing custom parts (ex. exhausts) and is attending the Japan Road Race Championship.
Won the Japan Road Race Championship in the ’90s in the TT-F3 class then attended the GP500 and Suzuka 8hours World Endurance Championship Race. Today he trains young riders at TRICK STAR.
“I don’t want to beat Maruyama. I only want to hit 350km/h” said Tsuruta and brilliantly achieved his goals. The competive spirit that he had when he competed championships still seems to remain.