Kawasaki H2 SX SE and Yamaha Tracer 900 GT cover big miles
Ballistic Ninja misses perfection by a matter of degrees
It’s funny how little niggles can become the bug-bears that sully a bike for you: the biking equivalent of a paper cut that snags on everything you touch. Thankfully the Ninja H2 doesn’t suffer many infuriating tribulations, but some of its few oversights seem a bit obvious. I’ve singled out the three biggest misses (and some mitigating hits) from my near-10,000 miles on the green meanie, but they’re not the sum total of those metaphorical paper cuts. Other niggling nicks include the lack of a natural position for a sat nav, brakes that don’t impress against the bike’s mass when you’re really using the full range of the engine, and the slow-to-warm heated grips. Then there’s the betwixt/ between touring screen that seems to throw the airflow right in your face, the lack of Bluetooth connectivity, the rubbish rangeto-empty gauge, and the fact that you can either buy it in green and black, or not buy it at all. But let’s not get carried away, its brilliance dramatically outweighs these distractions. And when you really boil it all down to what would make a difference and can’t be easily solved other than by Kawasaki making it so, I’ve got just three misses on my list. If the big K can solve them, then it will be a one very special K indeed.
1 Illuminighty
The last thing you’d expect to struggle with on a big sportstourer that boasts the sort of frontal mass a cruise ship would be proud of, is a decent headlight. But the H2 has all the illuminating vigour of a candle in the wind. It’s so poor that it’s a real pleasure when a bend arrives, and you can get the extra boost from the cornering lights.
2 Illumi-leftyand-righty
Sticking with the darkness, the SX SE is infuriating in the dark if you haven’t managed to memorise every switchgear button’s precise location and function. Now bikes have enough control systems to get you to the moon and back, it’s imperative that you’re provided more than moonlight to see them. Backlit switchgear is now a must-have.
3 Judging the rise and fall
Kawasaki’s new-for-2019 H2 SX SE ‘Plus’ boasts semi-active suspension in a similarly Showashaped solution as seen on their ZX-10R SE. But I really don’t think the big Ninja needs it. If you want the ‘Plus’ for the suzzies alone, convince yourself with a test ride, but I’d be buying it for the other benefits: the stocker’s mechanical support is superb.
4 Big sucker, big blower
There’s no escaping the headline act and that’s the maniacal supercharger that surges sucks, squeezes, chirps and chatters beneath you as it compresses the horizon and throws it over your shoulder. It doesn’t quite make the H2 SX a one-trick pony, but is the only true USP. And as USPs go, it’s an impressive one. It genuinely enriches every mile.
5 Persistent keying error
This might seem like a minor misery, but it became a daily annoyance. Bike keys should be rugged, but the H2’s can bend in your pocket. The knock-on effect is that it wouldn’t always slide into the ignition barrel properly, and every use in the pannier felt like taunting impending doom.