How Powerful Are Kawasaki's Supercharged Motorcycle Engines?

The Kawasaki Ninja is one of the most famous motorcycles ever made and for good reason. This legendary bike features a variety of models available in Sport, Supersport, and the Hypersport genres.

Kawasaki's Sport bikes start with the Ninja 400, which offers an economical performance-oriented motorcycle, good for daily rides. The Supersport bikes like the Ninja ZX-4R are more like racing models, but adapted for legal street use. Then there are the Hypersport Ninjas that Kawasaki has engineered with supercharged engines pushing the envelope even further. Those looking for an adrenaline-fused experience behind the handlebars need look no further than the Ninja H2 product line.

There are three options within Kawasaki's Hypersport genre: the Ninja H2 SX, Ninja H2, and the Ninja H2R. Each H2 comes equipped with a 998cc four-cylinder engine with supercharger that produce torque starting at 101 lb-ft up to 121.5, depending on the model. The power plant between the wheels of the Ninja H2 is considered one of the most powerful motorcycle engines in production today, generating 228 horsepower. By far the most aggressive of the bunch and able to generate over 300 horsepower, however, is the Kawasaki Ninja H2R.

It's difficult to fully understand the power of Kawasaki's supercharged Hypersport bikes without comparing them to competitors. For example, the 2022 Honda CBR10000RR-R Fireblade SP is an impressive motorcycle with a 999.9cc inline four-cylinder engine that enables it to output around 215 horsepower, making it unsurprisingly fast. While the Fireblade is around 20 more horsepower than the introductory Kawasaki H2 SX, both the H2 and H2R surpass Honda's bike, the latter crushing it with more than 85 additional horses.

Even after experiencing a ride on the H2R, one reviewer explained, "After my first real full-throttle run, the words 'monster' or 'fierce' don't begin to describe how hard the H2R pulls — and that's through all six gears, not just the first two or three."

The H2R has even been pitted against various supercars like the McLaren Mp4-12C and Bugatti Veyron, defeating them in a head-to-head matchup. Given its monstrous output, you may be wondering if Kawasaki's Ninja H2R is street legal in the U.S. The answer might surprise you.

Back in 2016, internationally renowned rider Kenan Sofuoglu in cooperation with Kawasaki, set off to see what speeds the H2R could reach. The scene for this high-speed challenge was a new bridge in Turkey that wasn't yet open to the public. Sofuoglu had fewer than 30 seconds to hit top speed for safety reasons as this stunt would put significant pressure on the tires. Amazingly, Sofuoglu exceeded even Kawasaki's expectations and reached an astounding 249 miles per hour.