2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2 | FIRST RIDE VIDEO

For months now we've watched a nearly endless stream of videos documenting every aspect of Kawasaki's new supercharged H2, but it wasn't until yesterday that we actually got to ride the thing. Here's one more video, then, of the bike in action!

We've written extensively about the technology behind the 200-horsepower (claimed) H2, and you can read about it here.

So how was it? In a word, wicked. The Kawasaki H2 is freakishly fast and hazed the rear 200-series Bridgestone slick if I rolled the throttle open too quickly, making me thankful for traction control. For a fairly big, relatively heavy (compared to other 1,000cc machines) bike, handling was pleasingly light and the H2 felt planted while trail-braking toward apexes. The H2 doesn't dive onto its side as readily as a ZX-10R, but then again the ZX-10R doesn't slam you against the back of the seat as hard as the H2 does when you open the throttle!

A quickshifter—finally!—enables full-throttle upshifts for uninterrupted acceleration, and the Brembo brakes (with KIBS ABS) are tremendous, with a stiff lever and great feel. As meticulously refined as it is, however, the H2 has abrupt response off closed throttle. I had a few eye-widening slides during initial pickup at deep lean angle until I learned to use maintenance throttle through turns.

The bike’s weight—Kawasaki claims a curb weight of 525 pounds while a ZX-10R is a claimed 443 pounds—plus the fact that there was only one H2 for eight journalists to share kept me from pushing the envelope at corner entry, but I couldn’t help but get greedy with the throttle coming off corners. If you lust for thrust, the H2 will put a smile on your face. All that intake pressure means there’s stupid-strong torque way down in the rev range. The bottom-end and midrange is where the H2 really shines, because once it gets into the upper revs it doesn’t feel that much faster than a naturally aspirated literbike. At the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, I was seeing 175 to 180 mph at the end of the front straight, which is what we’ve experienced on other 1000s.

Closing the throttle at the end of the straight sent the blow-off valve in the airbox to whistling, and as I circulated the track I could hear the supercharger impeller chirping and trilling like some kind of Amazonian bird. From the sounds it makes to the fierce acceleration and shimmering metallic paint, the H2 is an intense and thrilling machine that offers up a sensory experience I won’t soon forget.