Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE+

[danham]

I'm only at the looking/thinking/tire kicking stage, but I'm posting because I am struck by how the old adage about BMWs being overpriced may be history.

As I've said here before, the replacement for my '09 ST that I'm most interested in is an R 1250 RS. But BMW in its infinite wisdom appears not to be interested in manufacturing any of these until they've wrung the last $$ out the 1250 GS models, probably past the end of most of the 2019 riding season. So I've been looking around.

I've discovered that the 2019 Kawasaki H2 SX SE+ is a viable competitor, for about the same money. Like BMW they bend you over a chair for luggage ($1200), but it looks like both bikes could roll out the door ready for me at around $25,000 give or take. This bike checks all my boxes for sport touring except one: it’s chain driven. And unlike any of the boxer Bimmers, I’d be very unlikely to see many of these coming the other way while touring — the uniqueness of a supercharged engine appeals to me a bit. And it checks the “outrageous” box for sure, with 200 hp. I've seen some online complaints about the seat, but that has a familiar sound to it and I've got an Airhawk. Weight is comparable and reliability -- hard to gauge online -- is likely as good or better.

My riding pattern usually involves traveling a fair distance to get to fun mountain stuff, so I'm ready to edge slightly toward touring in the sport-touring niche. But I remain impressed by how well my F 800 ST handles this.

Any thoughts from this community?

-dan

[Daboo]

Dan, you've come to the right place. We'd all like to help you spend your hard earned cash.

The Kawasaki H2 SX SE+ is an awesome bike. I don't think BMW has the lock on technical sophistication in the motorcycling world, and this is one excellent example. There's plenty of power, obviously. The difference in recent years, is the electronics have improved enough to let mere mortals handle that power without killing ourselves as we simply try to leave the parking lot.

A quick glance at two forums for the bike doesn't reveal anything really "bad" about the bike. One thread said something about rust. And then there's the threads about flashing the ECU to get more power out of the bike. So it seems like the bike is well designed and is holding up in use. And I know the magazine reviewers are not going to say anything negative about a bike unless it is really bad...Motorcycle.com named it the best sport tourer of the year. https://www.motorcycle.com/mobos/bes...ycle-2018.html As a side note, the second place finisher is one that's on my short list if I was looking for a bike other than the F800GT.

...My riding pattern usually involves traveling a fair distance to get to fun mountain stuff, so I'm ready to edge slightly toward touring in the sport-touring niche. But I remain impressed by how well my F 800 ST handles this.

-dan

I chuckle at your words here though. What part of this bike edges toward "touring"? It edges toward the race track a lot though.



"I remain impressed by how well my F 800 ST handles this." And that's where I come back to earth. Like your ST, I am totally surprised to see another GT (or ST) coming down the road toward me. And I am always getting compliments on the bike. I was leaving church Sunday morning, and the guy directing traffic made a comment about the bike looking really good...even though it is covered in road grime.

My GT makes me seem like a much better rider than I really am. There are times I'm going into corners much hotter than I really should be...and yet it pulls me out of trouble every time. Give me the suspension of the SE+, and at some point the tires lose friction anyway and the bike and I go over a cliff.

When I think of "needing" more power than I have already, I think of this situation where I was trying to catch up with my riding partner in Nevada. He'd passed a truck with a boat trailer, even though it was already doing 70 mph. By myself, I would've just stayed behind the truck, but this time I pulled out to pass and almost didn't get around the truck and boat before the oncoming pickup truck arrived. I think the truck driver had speeded up too to keep me from passing. Whatever happened, the lesson I learned from that is to ride my own ride...but also that more power isn't always the answer. More power would just get me into more situations where I counted on that power to get me out of trouble. The controlling factor is the loose nut between the ears.


Chris

[danham]

Chris,

That article certainly helped further pry open my wallet. Thanks a bunch.

My "edge toward touring" comment was imprecise: I like that the SE+ comes with a lot of long-haul features that my ST lacks: cruise control, a bit more wind protection than the basic H2, and gobs of torque in the midrange.

I hear you about "more power" and have hardly ever felt a lack on my ST, but would I turn down 200 potential HP on tap just because I don't plan to ride 180 mph? Nope. Even if I never top out in 6th, that engine is likely to be a lot of fun at less insane velocities too.

We'll see...

-dan

[Daboo]

Here's a little story...

When I worked at Boeing in Duwamish, they had a car and bike show for charity. I'd recently bought my pride and joy at the time, a Suzuki Burgman 400 scooter. Great commuter bike, BTW. It was really clean, so I put it in the show, just so they'd have something for people to come out and see. Next to me was a Ducati. Probably a Panigale, I'm guessing. I'm sure he got speeding tickets when it was parked, it looked so good. One guy got to talking to the owner and asked him how it was. The Ducati owner said it wasn't really fun till he got over 100 mph. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, but I thought I'd toss it in.

Actually the bike on my short list is the runner up in that article, the Yamaha Tracer GT. When the FJ-09 came out, all the reviewers could comment on is how they could pop wheelies in 3rd gear without using the clutch. It's worth a look too, IMHO.

Or...buy both!

Chris