I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to ride this utter monster. If the phrase ’the most powerful massproduction bike on the market today' doesn’t give you a hard-on, I don’t know what will. Even from the moment it was unveiled all those years ago I knew I needed to swing my leg over one, and to be honest, I can’t bloody believe it’s taken so long. I mean, just look at the bloody thing! And if that wasn’t enough, for 2019, Kawasaki only went and spaffed some more goodies on to it. In terms of performance, think more power (yes, I’m not pulling your leg), bigger brakes and better tyres. Is that enough? No? Well they also decided to gift the H2 with an updated dash, a snazzier paint job some LED lights and a few little styling updates … and it looks better than ever.
I know the appearance can be a bit Marmite, but by Christ, for me it was love at first sight. The angles, the aggression, and the pure exuberance that comes with it just oozes the same bat-shiz crazy approach that Kawasaki Heavy Industries had when they were designing the engine. I mean, they even gave it self-healing paint that fixes scratches in sunlight - and that’s pretty damn bonkers in our books. Mind you, the combination of edgy fairings and a mirrored finish does work a treat and the H2 stood gloriously in the sunshine, attracting more looks than a supermodel sitting naked on a high street. It’s not just about the whole bike as well, as even the detailing is top notch, with a stunning green finish on the frame, and little things like how the outputs on the end can replicate a supercharger. It’s pretty special, although I’ve got to admit, and although it looks savage the first time I perched my bum on the seat I was pleasantly surprised; it has the feel of a sportsbike, with a touch of added comfort from the bar and peg positions … although I was left a bit underwhelmed by the cockpit. Thankfully, it has a proper key, but for a bike with this sort of tech, I was expecting a bit of a snazzier dash, and from the moment I tried using 'em to the moment I gave it back, the indicators were a right pain in the ass to grab. Mind you, no one buys an H2 for the dash; they buy it because of how it dashes.