The Next Kawasaki Supercharged Bike - Ninja R2
The Kawasaki H2 supercharged Ninja hit us right between the eyes with its specifications, but now it has our attention, Kawasaki has plans for a lighter more usable supercharged machine in a bid to attract a wider audience.The early images might be a computer-generated impression but it's based on information from Kawasaki HQ in Japan about the direction the company will head with its supercharged technology. Miniaturized and more mass-made than the Kawasaki Ninja H2, the motorcycle – likely to be called the Kawasaki Ninja R2 – is said to be around 800cc and will use a version of the balanced supercharged engine Kawasaki displayed at last year's Tokyo Motor Show.
The capacity comes as a surprise. Last year Kawasaki spoke of the scalable nature of its supercharged engine design, leading to specification a 600cc machine would be next. Now sources say the scaled-down fractionally above 800cc and, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense.
An 800cc four-cylinder engine won't physically be much larger than a 600cc, and given the new Kawasaki will be a road-only motorcycle, not constrained by racing class requirements, there's no need to hamstring itself by downsizing to 600cc.
Instead Kawasaki is able to look at what might be considered 'ideal' power and torque characteristics for what will still be a top-of-the-range superbike. Balanced against size, cost and weight to come up with a formula that's as close to perfection as it can achieve.
At around 700cc, it won't be compared to 600cc motorcycles, its power will rival 1000cc superbikes, as will its cost, and given the current weak market for mid-size sportsbikes it makes sense to steer clear of them. While it would be easy to make a supercharged 600cc that rivaled naturally aspirated 1000cc, the engine would need to be in a higher state of tune, adding to the cost of components and leading to a tighter power band, with little of no real advantage over using a larger “800cc” engine...Tag: Kawasaki Ninja R2 Supercharger Supercharged 800cc All-round Horsepower Torque All-New 2017
