The new Kawasaki Ninja H2R

A closer look-

This Kawasaki Ninja H2R has got a claimed 310bhp (though our testers saw 249 76bhp at the rear wheel on the dyno ), a supercharger and can hit over 200mph with normal people like me and you riding it

Some will say the Kawasaki H2R's power is too much: it’s too fast, too expensive, too vicious, and yes – it’s all those things, but who cares? I wouldn’t if I had £41k to spend on an H2R. Thank you Kawasaki for being so brave – you promised it would be nothing short of epic, and you delivered What more is there to say? It’s the ultimate top trump card; the fastest, most powerful production bike ever, and it works Beautifully However, the glaring issue here is that it isn't road legal, and the exhaust is so noisy that very few circuits will allow its type on trackdays. It occupies a strange no-man ' s land and as such it's hard to justify for use in the UK unless you spend all your time riding on runways, or intend to tuck it away in a heated garage as a collector's item its 5-star rating remains nevertheless, simply because of its mind-altering performance

If you want to buy a new Kawasaki H2R, you'll need to talk to your local main dealer because order books aren't always open.

The H2R feels like a completely different bike to its H2 road-bike sibling It’s 22kg lighter than the H2, turns easier, holds its line better The suspension is the same between the H2 and R but it has to deal with less weight and the firmer settings are more suited to the track I makes you feel like a GP rider; the noise, the speed, the power. It's insane and sublime in equal measure.

Surprisingly there isn’t a huge amount of difference between the two versions of the Kawasaki H2 (standard and R); both have the same bore and stroke, pistons and valves - even the same supercharger!

The intake and exhaust systems are different, as are the ECU, the complete wiring loom, camshafts, tyres, head gasket, clutch, aerodynamic wings and carbon fibre bodywork.

The importance of high efficiency is that power-robbing heat gain is minimal, and the H2’s high adiabatic efficiency means that it can be run without the need for a bulky and complicated intercooler, saving weight and space

Machined from a single forged block of aluminium using 5-axis CNC machining, the 69mm impeller has 6 blades at its tip and

12 airflow

The impeller’s pumping capacity at full speed is an incredible 200+ litres/sec