Six weeks on a Kawasaki Z-H2 SE

Andy Bell shares his thoughts on the Kawasaki Z-H2 SE, six weeks in. If you missed Andy’s first impressions, read part 1 here.

After receiving the Zed a bit later into the year than I had preferred, I was concerned how often I’d be able to get out during the better weather days, but we’ve had some good fortune over the last few weeks with plenty of dry time to get out and about to appreciate this bike. Here in Lincolnshire, there are quite a number of decent roads to ride, and like many areas – a big sense of biking community. This feeling was proven when I attended my first bike night of the year at PHR Performance (Peter Hickman Racing) in Louth, where visitors could have a look around his set-up, showing the workshop and dyno. To say the evening was well-attended would be an understatement – it looked like everyone who owned a bike for miles around had turned up, and with such a range of machines parked up also demonstrating that it’s not what you ride but the fact you are out there that counts. Even though I only have this bike on loan, I did feel a huge amount of pride seeing people pointing towards the engine and mentioning the supercharger. This fairly small-looking part of the bike happens to be one of its biggest features, and for good reason. As I have been clocking up a few more miles, I have found that living with this bike and its potential on a day-to-day basis is achievable without any dramas, but when you want to open it up and have a more ‘spirited ride’, let’s say, then there is enough go to make you hang on tight while trying to remember to keep that grip loose… like we keep being told.

Many bikes (including this one) now have a quickshifter as standard for both up and down shifts. This is always a welcome feature as far as I’m concerned on new bikes, but I have also found that the characters can vary quite considerably between models. With this Z-H2, short shifting is possible, however, you do need to be positive with your action as anything less than a persuasive nudge up with the left boot can lead to the engine cut but not necessarily an upshift in gear, causing that unwelcome surge I am sure many have all felt… while also hoping we are out of earshot of anyone who can tell that we messed something up. The downshifts click in each time without fail, although I do find myself using the clutch when going down the box from third or lower as this makes the ride comfier to sit to and not so harsh.

The weight of the big Zed needs a mention for a number of reasons. Overall, there hasn’t been any issue with this bike carrying around another 40kg of mass over other machines of a similar nature. Whether tipping into a slower bend or chucking it into some fast sweepers, I feel like it takes either in its stride and is quite agile despite its extra lard. The Brembos are doing a cracking job despite the extra weight, too. I have only been on the roads with this bike and on numerous occasions (most rides) have asked a bit from them to see how well they behave. While you can feel the extra few kilos when braking, they still perform well pulling the bike up and offering so much feel from the initial bite. As yet, on the road I haven’t seen anything from the ABS, so either I am not pushing too hard or, as I would like to believe, they are doing their magic.

A funky feature I have found on the dash when scrolling through the menu (in a bid to learn the settings despite not having the manual) is a lean angle display. This can be current lean or maximum lean achieved. Now, this is something not revolutionary – anyone who’s watched MotoGP will have seen the statistics on the TV screen – but to have this on a road bike, and a naked one at that, might seem unnecessary. That might be the case, however, I do find myself resetting the function when setting off for a sporty ride just out of interest, not by any means as a way to match or beat a previous lean achieved.

Most of my riding these last few weeks have been fairly short runs out with a couple of friends when we all manage to find time that allows us to meet around busy home/work lives. I have also convinced my partner that she should have a go on the back, and as we live so close to the coast it is inevitable that this becomes a popular bike attraction. She is still getting over the effects of a badly broken leg but found the pegs were not too badly positioned for her to manage a half-hour ride on occasion, often ending up for a chippy meal out after work. I did, however, manage to grab a free pass from the missus to get a longer ride out one Saturday. This was to ‘nip’ to collect something fairly small but did include a fair amount of motorway miles. Now, when I say small, after looking at the space under the rear seat, it was obvious that like any sportsbike, I was going to need a backpack as the space there isn’t really worth having. After filling the fuel tank and setting off, it was a great opportunity to allow the bike to stretch its legs a bit once I arrived at what seemed like an abandoned motorway due to the lack of traffic at this time. It was no surprise at all that the lack of a screen was an issue at sustained speed, but dropping my chin to the tank did alleviate some of the pressure from the wind that my neck was battling with to keep my head on my shoulders.

At this point, I did have a flashback to my teenage years when I used to adopt a similar position to try and gain them last few mph on my first two-stroke 125. This wasn’t the case on this day as I felt like the power from this motor with the supercharged assistance would move us both forward at the same pace, regardless of my ‘race position’ or even if I happened to be seven feet tall and sitting bolt upright. It wasn’t until I was near my destination that I started to feel slightly uncomfortable in the seat, but as it was, I had managed to burn through just about all of the fuel, with the range display dropping quicker than the miles actually covered at pace, so I had to dismount to refuel regardless of the fact I had arrived where I was heading. The garage forecourt was new to me and had a slight decline; when I pulled in, I needed to stop to allow a car to leave the pumps and back up a little. This is where I did notice the weight disadvantage. I knew I wasn’t going to manage it on this slope so I tried my best to style my way out by making out I wanted to get off and then proceeded to back it up dismounted. To be honest, I don’t think I would have kept my cool badge even if I’d had one.

The ride home was taken at a more sedate pace, due partly to traffic and to see what a difference it would make to fuel levels. Needless to say, I arrived home covering the same distance with about a third of the tank left. After this particular day out, I have no worries about comfort when covering distance at a normal pace, so I am looking to get some further rides planned. The first service is now due, so I need to get this booked in as soon as possible, as I do have a few ideas in mind of places I want to visit.