After showing off a concept bike at EICMA 2022, Kawasaki has revealed what appears to be a genuine prototype H2 designed to run purely on hydrogen. This is the latest result of the HySE project, where Japan’s Big Four motorcycle manufacturers plus Toyota are diving deep into researching and developing hydrogen power as another alternative fuel source.
Contrary to previous reports that the bike will be a modified Ninja 1000, the H2 name is plainly visible on the back. This cleverly invokes not only the current H2’s reputation for supercharged high performance but also the chemical formula for hydrogen itself. A revised front fairing even includes an H-shaped running light surrounding the headlight to further drive this point home. The Kawasaki hydrogen H2 is a highly modified Ninja H2 SX, complete with a specially made supercharged four-cylinder engine like the original bike. Utilizing the H2’s existing supercharger technology plus direct injection makes sense to provide the much leaner fuel-to-air ratios that hydrogen requires while still producing reasonable amounts of power.
The standard luggage that comes with the SX has been replaced with hydrogen fuel tanks. This eliminates its cargo capability and even a passenger seat, but this is a prototype for testing, not a production bike. Reports vary as to how the bike is refueled. Some sources, including Webike, say there is a fuel inlet between the dual tail lights. Others, like Cycle World, say that rather than traditional refueling, hydrogen will be stored in canisters inside the saddlebags that the rider can swap themselves, rather like a SodaStream’s CO2 canisters. This seems far more likely, both from a safety perspective as well as the extremely low availability of hydrogen refueling stations.
Kawasaki has not revealed any performance numbers. Being a prototype, the bike is still very much under development, so no doubt these numbers are constantly changing. The heart of this bike, its hydrogen-burning engine, will be put to the test next month at the Dakar Rally, of all places, where it will power the Kawasaki X1 side-by-side. The motorcycle itself is expected to begin testing soon afterward.
