Photo: Facebook capture
When Kawasaki started teasing the upcoming Ninja H2R machine, few knew what to expect from a motorcycle that was advertised as integrating the highest technologies Akashi ever developed. Today things are way different, with the H2R established as a benchmark when it comes to top speed.
Among the most recent pieces of footage that surfaced on the internet, one stands out in a particular way. It shows the dashboard of the H2R as the bike reaches a top speed of 391 km/h. That is 243 mph and exceeds the highest speed in MotoGP.
Speaking of MotoGP and the top speed in this championship, the record has just been broken last Sunday. Ducati's factory rider Andrea Iannone was clocked at 349.6 km/h (217.3 mph) flying on the Mugello straight, and became the fastest MotoGP rider ever. The previous record stood at 349.28 km/h (217.07 mph) and was set by Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in 2009, also at Mugello.
The difference between the two figures may seem a marginal one, but it's exactly this minute difference that can win or lose races. Pretty much all the bikes in MotoGP can do well north of 320 km/h (200 mph), but the highest technology and tons of money are needed to be that fraction of a second faster.
Now, the MotoGP bikes are naturally aspirated, whereas the H2R is a supercharged beast, but still this Ninja can be had for around $50,000 (or Euro), while the price tag of a MotoGP bike, even though they're not for sale, reads several million dollars.
It would be truly awesome if someone took a Ninja H2R to the Mugello circuit and let it rip. Kawasaki has headquarters in Italy, so we guess that staging such a track session would not be that hard. Because blazing straight line speed is cool, but not as cool as being fast on a track, too. Wondering how he H2R would stack against a MotoGP prototype...
Speaking of MotoGP and the top speed in this championship, the record has just been broken last Sunday. Ducati's factory rider Andrea Iannone was clocked at 349.6 km/h (217.3 mph) flying on the Mugello straight, and became the fastest MotoGP rider ever. The previous record stood at 349.28 km/h (217.07 mph) and was set by Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in 2009, also at Mugello.
The difference between the two figures may seem a marginal one, but it's exactly this minute difference that can win or lose races. Pretty much all the bikes in MotoGP can do well north of 320 km/h (200 mph), but the highest technology and tons of money are needed to be that fraction of a second faster.
Now, the MotoGP bikes are naturally aspirated, whereas the H2R is a supercharged beast, but still this Ninja can be had for around $50,000 (or Euro), while the price tag of a MotoGP bike, even though they're not for sale, reads several million dollars.
It would be truly awesome if someone took a Ninja H2R to the Mugello circuit and let it rip. Kawasaki has headquarters in Italy, so we guess that staging such a track session would not be that hard. Because blazing straight line speed is cool, but not as cool as being fast on a track, too. Wondering how he H2R would stack against a MotoGP prototype...
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