68 new bikes judged by 78 judges (including Ducati UK's Tim Maccabee) Multistrada S in at #12 Panigale 1299 S in at #8 And the ickle Scrambler in at #3.........only beaten by the Yamaha R1 at #2 and Kawasaki H2 in the top spot. Well done Ducati, you've got it right again!
Which is more than can be said for the 78 judges. Never seen an H2 outside the NEC nor in my opinion is the H2 anything more than a technical exercise like the Veyron although the Veyron will probably sell more units. Andy
Spotted 2 H2s in the wild over the past 2 weeks - one in London at the Ace, and another at OYB in Aylesbury. Each time, pretty spectacular in the flesh because of the dark chrome paint... but they seem totally overpriced for what they are.
They do look smart as hell but they also look fantastically uncomfortable and bulky. The H2 is a technical exercise but its set a development ball rolling and its what that will lead to that matters.
What ? , 3 rd 8 th and 12 th ????????????? Whatever they got " right " just Yamy and Kawasaki got it " righter !!!!
Kawasaki haven't stopped with the supercharger! There is rumoured to be a 600cc coming, 150hp 600cc with loads of torque, the Supersport boys will be all over it, albeit more like a superbike with that sort of power!
Whilst I would never even consider buying one one of these heavy ugly duckings, the H2 is certainly technically interesting. I'd love to hear one in the flesh as well. There's a video on track (Oulton Park I think?) and it sounds amazing. It'll be interesting to see how it develops, particularly in the smaller bikes, although any turbo lag is going to be even more noticeable on a small bike than a big one.
Good point, I forgot it was a supercharger. I did read the reviews and they were talking about massive power hit further up the revs. Anyhow it's still ugly haha!
Haven't heard the H2R running but the standard H2 doesn't sound much different to any other big four at a standstill. Slightly more gruff and raspy perhaps. Under way, when they're spinning properly, superchargers make a sort of squeaking chirping sound when you throttle off and I'd imagine you hear them when they really spinning under hard acceleration. Whether the H2 appeals to us or not, Kawasaki have changed the rules (as they have done in the past). Its not like they've bolted a turbo to an existing model to see if they can shift a few like several manufacturers did in the 70s and 80s. Kawasaki have invested far too much very expensive primary technical development in this bike to abandon the idea. They've taken tricky technology and made it work for mass production. Superchargers are here to stay now. Its probably a more important bike than the original Z1 or the GPz900. We'll all feel the influence of the H2 one day.
