Tokyo Motor Show 2019: Kawasaki finally unveils supercharged naked, Z H2

After all the nagging and teasing and the abundance of spy-shots firing up the internet, we finally get to see what Kawasaki meant by the supercharged Z series. At the Tokyo Motor Show, the company unveiled the Z H2, a naked bike based on the obscenely fast H2.

In terms of design, the Z H2 conforms to the Sugomi styling in the Z series. However, just like its capability to perform, everything about the bike is just that much more aggressive. The headlamp is mammoth of a unit with the actual lighting elements sitting lower than you would expect, the lines are sharp and crisp and the green trellis frame exposes almost all of the engine quite nicely.

Getting down to the mechanics, the Z H2 gets the same engine as the Ninja H2, a 998cc inline-four supercharged powerplant that is tuned to churn out 200 PS of maximum power and 137 Nm of peak torque.

However, even with these numbers, the Z H2 isn't the most powerful production naked bike out there. MV Agusta still holds that title with the Brutale 1000 Serie Oro. Still, throw a fit on the Z H2 and you can reach top speeds of close to 300 km/h.

Even so, keeping so much power in check can only be handled by extremely talented riders or electronics and Kawasaki has definitely supplied us with electronics. The bike gets a ride-by-wire throttle allowing for various riding modes, the KRTC traction control system, quickshifter, cruise control, launch control, cornering management, Kawasaki's version of ABS and a host of other electronics that can be controlled via the full-colour TFT display that also allows for Bluetooth connectivity.

As for India, the rest of the supercharged family has already been made available including the mind-numbing H2R, so we can expect an appearance on our shores too. As for competition, the Z H2 will take on the likes of the KTM 1290 Super Duke and the upcoming Ducati Streetfighter V4 apart from the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro.