Original H2 offers not-so-cheap thrills

In the last few weeks I’ve had a couple of early suspicions about the Kawasaki Ninja H2 confirmed. The first was that the original bike would be the investment, and the second was that the SX touring version would be a bit, well, less exciting. Somebody recently put a 300-mile Ninja H2 Carbon on eBay, with effusive prose, and it was actually bid up to over list price, presumably because there were no new Carbons left unsold, but the greedy sod had set his reserve too high and it didn’t sell. On to the SX and yes, it really is a better bike than the original H2. It’s more comfy, has a less brutal power delivery, is more economical, has a bigger tank, can take panniers and a passenger, and still chirps through the blower.

But, for me, it’s like any other mad Kawasaki through history. It’s been tamed, like the Z1 was and like the two-stroke triples all were. Even the ZX-10R had its rough edges filed away after the original C1 model scared a few too many people.

I’m not saying this simply because I’ve got one, but in years to come, the original Ninja H2 with the sparkly green frame will command the highest prices.

At the time of writing, there hasn’t been a used Ninja H2 sold on eBay for three months, which is odd. If you want something nearly as thrilling, albeit without the blower or the price tag, then an early ZX-10R will frighten you just as effectively. It did me.