Kawasaki’s Ninja line is extremely extensive, featuring some of the fastest Kawasaki bikes ever made, as well as great bikes for beginners like the Ninja 400. The Ninja H2 and ZX make the list of Kawasaki’s fastest bikes, so if you’re looking for a powerful bike, they’re a good place to start. But which one is faster?
The H2 comes in three models. Riders can choose between the H2 SX, H2 and H2R, with MSRPs for these three bikes starting at $28,000, $32,100 and $58,100 respectively. None of the three models are particularly budget-friendly, with the H2 SX being the least expensive.
There are many more options in the ZX line. These include the ZX-4R, ZX-6R, ZX-10R, and ZX-14R. MSRP for these bikes starts at $9,399, $11,399, $17,799, and $16,599, respectively. For comparison, we’ll look at the most powerful machines from each group, namely the ZX-14R and the H2R. These are all solid bikes, so you can’t go wrong with any of them, especially if you’re not planning on going to the race track.
ZX-14R vs. H2R
With its massive 1,441cc motor, you might think the Ninja ZX-14R is the faster of the two bikes, but there’s a big reason for that. Kawasaki has fitted a limiter that limits the bike’s top speed to 186 mph, so there’s still a lot of performance headroom. If you want to unlock the bike’s full potential, you have to get around this artificial upper limit. You can do this by flashing the ECU, but that will cost a few hundred dollars. Still, with the limiter removed, you can reach almost 200 mph.
When we look at the H2R, we see a bike that is significantly more expensive than the ZX-14R despite having a 998cc motor, and there’s a big reason for this – it has an incredibly high top speed. A bike like no other, the H2R can reach a top speed of 249 mph, effectively making it one of the fastest bikes in the world.
Obviously there’s no real competition between the two, but it’s also worth noting that the average rider isn’t going to pay over $50,000 for a bike, especially since the Ninja HR2 isn’t road legal. Any way you look at it, all versions of the Ninja H2 are more expensive than the ZX series, but as you work your way up the series, you’ll find the lower-end H2s are more comparable in terms of performance.
How do the H2 SX and H2 compare to the ZX-14R?
Looking at the two cheaper options in the H2 line, we can see how the H2 SX and H2 differ from the ZX-14R. Assuming the ZX-14R still has a limiter, the H2 would only have to go over 186 mph, but there’s a catch. The H2 SX and H2 are equipped with the exact same limiter that limits their top speed to 186 mph. As with any bike with a limiter, you can bypass the limiter with an ECU flash if you don’t mind spending the money.
Without the limiter, the H2 can go over 220 mph. That means the limiter severely limits performance, and a flashed H2 is faster than a flashed ZX-14R. The H2 SX comfortably redlines at a top speed of 186 mph, so flashing the ECU isn’t going to unlock a ton of extra power there. Whether you choose an H2 or a ZX-14R, you’re getting a bike that’s fast, even with the limiter.
