Touring motorcycles are practically synonymous with comfort. Think relaxed ergonomics, country music blasting through the speakers as you carve through winding canyons, and a smooth, plentiful supply of low-down grunt to make those long miles disappear. For many riders, the Honda Gold Wing sits right at the pinnacle of the two-wheeled touring experience. It’s the obvious choice for eating up highways in plush comfort. But what if you find all that a little tame? What if you want to approach touring with more aggression and sportier underpinnings? Well, you could get a sport-tourer, and we have a recommendation that will get you adrenaline pumping. It’s Japanese, too!
The Honda Gold Wing Nails The Touring Brief
There’s a reason why riders have trusted the Honda Gold Wing for decades, and it goes well beyond the badge on its side. Generation after generation, Honda has refined this motorcycle around one particular idea: making long-distance touring as comfortable and effortless as possible. Take its 1,833cc flat-six, for instance. It’s built to deliver that smooth, linear power that makes settling into a relaxed rhythm on the highway feel natural, with plenty in reserve when you need it. Even the double-wishbone front suspension follows the same philosophy.
Pick the Gold Wing Tour, and you get 4.3 cubic feet of integrated luggage, enough room for a serious amount of gear on a two-up trip. There’s also a seven-inch TFT display, speakers, and heated seats for both you and your pillion. And if you want to make long hours in the saddle even more effortless, there’s the option of Honda’s DCT automatic transmission.
But It Isn’t For Everyone
What you might want, though, is an entirely different riding experience. Maybe you’d rather lean into those corners a little harder, wind the engine out, and have a motorcycle that feels more eager to change direction. That’s where sport-touring comes in, bringing together the performance and handling of a sport bike with the wind protection and long-distance practicality you’d want from a tourer. Even a smaller sport bike like the Kawasaki Ninja 500 can be pressed into sport-touring duties, while something like the Yamaha Tracer 7 is designed with that combination in mind. But what happens when you take that formula and dial it all the way up?
The Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE Is Sport-Touring At Its Most Extreme
Enter the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE, the living manifestation of what happens when Team Green decides to supercharge a sport-tourer. Take a closer look, and you’ll find factory-option panniers and the equipment to make long-distance riding easier. As we’ll see, it has the performance and handling to keep the sporting side happy, alongside the comfort and practicality you’d want from a proper tourer.
A Supercharged 998cc Engine Puts Out 207 Horsepower
What truly sets the Ninja H2 SX SE apart is what’s at its heart. Its supercharged 998cc inline-four puts out 207 horsepower at 10,000 rpm and 101 lb-ft of torque at 8,500 rpm. And how often do you see a supercharger on a production motorcycle? Kawasaki is pretty much alone in offering supercharged road bikes, making this a rather unusual way to go touring. Kawasaki also says the engine is tuned to remain manageable at low speeds, making it perfectly usable around town.
Its Underpinnings Strike The Right Balance Between Comfort And Sportiness
Of course, all that power would mean little if the rest of the motorcycle couldn’t keep up. This is where you can see how Kawasaki has catered to both the sporting and touring sides of the H2 SX SE. The suspension is courtesy of Showa, with semi-active damping and Skyhook technology that adjusts to changing road conditions to help keep the ride composed. That’s the touring side taken care of. But when you want to push harder through corners, the steel trellis frame and dual front discs with Brembo Stylema four-piston calipers give you the sort of braking performance you’d expect from a sport bike.
Touring Tech Makes Long-Distance Riding Easier
By now, it’s clear that the Ninja H2 SX SE sits firmly in flagship territory, and its creature comforts reflect that. You get a 6.5-inch TFT display with smartphone connectivity, heated grips, and a tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS). All the usual stuff you’d expect from a motorcycle in this league is here. That’s topped with convenience bits like Vehicle Hold Assist.
But this is still a performance-focused motorcycle, and the sporting tech is here, too. You get selectable power modes and a bidirectional quickshifter, alongside Kawasaki’s usual collection of proprietary acronyms for its cornering management, traction control, and braking systems. Strip away the branding, and it’s essentially IMU-based tech helping you manage the bike when you’re leaned over.
You Even Get Radar, Which Is Absent On The Gold Wing
What’s really surprising, though, is that the Ninja H2 SX SE gets radar-based tech that’s missing on the Gold Wing. There are radar sensors at the front and rear, enabling three features. Adaptive cruise control works above a set speed, adjusting your pace to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead. The rear radar also powers blind-spot detection, illuminating warning lights in the mirrors when a vehicle enters your blind spot. Finally, forward collision warning alerts you when the system detects a potential collision ahead.
There’s Enough Room For Panniers And A Pillion
It’s a little unusual to see a sport-tourer this aggressive with luggage, but Kawasaki offers optional 3.0 cubic feet panniers that complement its styling rather well. The seats have also been redesigned, with wider profiles and revised padding for improved rider and passenger comfort. Kawasaki also offers a tank bag for smaller essentials, and get this: you can even equip the H2 SX SE with a center stand.
There’s Nothing Like The Ninja H2 SX In The Market
At $29,999 before the $840 destination charge, the Ninja H2 SX SE is firmly in deep-pocket territory. But at this end of the market, it really comes down to the kind of touring you want. If you prefer the traditional luxury experience, there’s the Honda Gold Wing. Want something with an adventure-sport flavour? The BMW S 1000 XR brings sportbike performance with a more upright riding position. But if you want a supercharged engine, sportbike looks, and proper touring practicality all rolled into one, there’s very little that compares to the Ninja.
Source: Kawasaki USA
