FIRST RIDE
Kawasaki sports a supercharger and saddlebags
Hitting the gas at any r.p.m. — and by “any’ I mean pretty much anything over 2,000 r.p.m. — sends you pulsing forward. Do the same at 6,000 and you can substitute “rocket” for “pulse.” Try it around 8,500 r.p.m. and watch supercars fade into the background like so many Corollas. By 10,000 r.p.m., things are getting really stupid and you quickly start hoping that the brakes are equal to the engine.
This is what comes of adding a supercharger to a 1,000-cc superbike — a Kawasaki 1,000-cc superbike, no less — and then slapping some saddlebags on its hind end.
Wait just a nitrous-oxided minute here. Saddlebags? Supercharger? What madness is this? Superchargers are silly enough all by their lonesome, but who would slap one on a sport-tourer?
Kawasaki would — and did. It’s called the H2 SX and, like all Kawasakis supercharged, there are also H2 and H2R versions, and it is motorcycling ’s answer to the Saturn rocket. For the record, it’s got 197 horsepower, 101 pound-feet of torque and is so fast that Kawasaki claims it had to test those saddlebags’ durability at 300 kilometres an hour. Just in case.
Now here’s the thing. All that power, all that torque, all that incredible turn of speed is perhaps the SX’s least impressive quality. Oh, to be sure, its speed is outlandish, but take my word on this, like all addictions, you will become accustomed to 197 horsepower.
What you won’t get tired of is how truly great a motorcycle the H2 SX truly is. Indeed, you could get rid of that silly supercharger thingie and the SX would be my favourite Kawasaki of all time. For one thing, it is the least vibe-y in-line four I’ve tested of late, if not ever. On top of that, the electric motor smoothness is mated to one of the most linear power bands in all of motorcycling. Rather than simply turning down the H2/H2R’s boost, the SX gets all-new pistons, cylinder head and smaller throttle bodies, all in a quest for low-end grunt. That may not make 197 hp sound exciting, but remember the SX is supposed to carry passengers.
Though no lightweight — the top-of-the-line SE version weighs in at 260 kilograms — and with a chassis spaced out for stability, the SX steers with surprising ease. More important is that the handling is quite neutral and requires no counter-steering to keep it on line through even the tightest of corners.
The bigger surprise, however, is the SX’s suspension. There’s nothing especially noteworthy about the technology, but the SX proves that superb comfort and control do not require all the electronically controlled gizmos. On standard factory settings, the SX proved uncannily smooth on Ontario’s increasingly Third World-like roads. Other manufacturers looking for the best compromise between handling and comfort should dissect the SX’s forks and shock for a little guidance.
Another eye-opener was the SX’s riding position. Outwardly not much different than other sport-tourers that err on the side of superbike, I nevertheless found this H2 amazingly comfortable. Considering that my three aching lower lumbars normally make even 30 minutes aboard the Ninja ZX-14R excruciating, that I could meander along for hours onboard the SX without going into spinal spasms was quite a surprise. The SX is at least proof that clip-ons and happy vertebrae don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Other top features for this particular SX were some of the options afforded by the SE package (a $3,400 upgrade of the base H2 SX’s $21,899 MSRP). The saddlebags, for instance, are not only (semi) commodious but easily accessed. The SE’s TFT gauge set may be superbike small, but it is extremely well designed and, of course, there’s that lean angle readout, a strange thing for a production motorcycle to boast because it serves as a constant reminder of the fact that you and I are not Marc Marquez.
Unlike some modern superbikes with up to nine levels of traction control, the SX SE has but three. I chose the middle version with absolutely no desire to feel the full wrath of the Kawasaki-designed supercharger without some digital assistant on hand to save my bacon. There’s also a launch control system — please don’t use this with a passenger — that holds the engine until 6,250, at which point you dump the clutch. Kawasaki’s quickshifter is particularly smooth, especially in the top three gears.
If this all sounds a little glossy brochure-ish, it’s because the H2 SX SE is one of the top 10 motorcycles I have ridden in 35 years. I am about 20 years past my best clip-on and rearset years but were I wearing a younger man’s helmet, the SX would be at the very top of my wish list.