https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ih9CAPUq8
You've seen motorcycles race against each other, and you've seen boats race each other. But, this unlikely supercharged duel between a Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX and a Kawasaki Jet Ski Ultra 310r is probably unlike anything you've ever witnessed before. The sports-tourer goes head to-head against the personal watercraft in a crazy race through the Utah desert in this Top Gear-styled competition.
Motorcyclist Magazine Editor-in-Chief Chris Cantle found himself on this beautiful supercharged Kawasaki jet ski for the battle. With 300 horsepower and a top speed limited to right around 68 MPH, the jet ski tackled 140 miles on the water to get to the end of the race. Zach Bowman, the magazine's contributing editor, got to be the pilot of Kawasaki's Ninja H2 SX superbike. Although technically he has less power on the bike, he's working with a much faster top speed. To make things a little more even, he had to trek 250 miles across roads to get to the end of the race.
The two shake hands and grab onto the handlebars as they take off on their separate journeys. Right off the bat, Cantle had to keep the jet ski tamed in the no-wake zone, but after a few seconds, he gets to stand up and give it full throttle as he skims across the glassy water. Bowman took advantage of the power of the supercharger right from the jump and immediately saw large stretches of road where he could fly down to cut down some of his extra miles.
Since neither of the machines had a big enough tank to supply the fuel for the entire race, each rider found himself needing to stop for gas at one point throughout the battle. The H2 makes the first fuel stop, but Bowman pulls off a flawless pit stop that only takes less than a minute and a half. Cantle, on the other hands, runs into a little bit of an issue as he pulls his Ultra 310r in for fuel. With a bit of bad luck and some technical difficulties, his stop took him around 23 minutes total before he took off again down the smooth water.
As the two continue to stretch the legs of the machine, this video includes some incredible shots of the scenery. It's enough to make just about anyone want to make a trip to Utah for some fun of their very own. It's hard to find a more inviting environment for some powersports action.
As the race nears the end, Bowman pulls up to their destination and parks his bike with no sign of the jet ski nearby. That means that the Kawasaki H2 takes home the win for this race! Even though his bike was outfitted with saddle bags for extra storage capacity, he didn't let that slow him down even a little bit. He walks to the boat launch to wait on his competitor. Around 10 minutes later, we see the 310r pulling up. Defeated, Cantle shows his disappointment before having some good laughs with his co-worker.
Overall, it took the riders about three hours total to complete the race. Even though there was only one winner, they both explained the amount of fun they had during the process. That sounds like a pretty amazing day at work if you ask me. This video is perfect to motivate just about anyone to get out and have some fun during the summer season. Hell, I might even have to make a trip to Utah myself at some point to do some riding. This just looks like too much fun to pass up.
[sweeps]
This post was originally published on May 26, 2020.