Kawasaki's groundbreaking hydrogen-powered Ninja makes public debut

As we move to a zero-carbon transport future, Kawasaki is testing the waters of greener and cleaner motorcycle technologies. Following the reveal of a hydrogen-powered Ninja H2 SX last year, the prototype has made its first public appearance in Japan.

Powering a vehicle's electric motor(s) by battery is currently the hot favorite in the e-mobility mix where cars, trucks, pedal bikes and scoots are concerned.

Battery-electric is also adequate for getting around emission-curbing cities on motorcycles. But those who want to venture farther afield and aim for higher speeds than commuters are built for can be left wanting – for the most part. And then there's the problem of waiting around while your ride is juiced up.

Huge advances in battery chemistry and fast-charging technologies are being revealed with increasing regularity, but we're an impatient lot and progress can seem painfully slow. If only there was a way to motor along all day without producing nasty exhaust emissions... and top-up in minutes.

Green hydrogen could well relieve many of the pain points for the intrepid distance rider of the near future. And we've seen a number of efforts explore this energy dense fuel source roll into our inboxes, most of them being fuel-cell prototypes – from 2005's ENV to Suzuki's Crosscage a couple of years later, and more recently a futuristic concept from Segway plus a modified speed monster courtesy of MIT.

Kawasaki started working on a hydrogen bike project in March of last year, based around a modified combustion engine that's fed from somewhat bulky H2 tanks behind the rider. By December, concept renders became reality when a working prototype was unveiled ahead of track testing. Now the hydrogen-powered Ninja H2 HySE has made its first public appearance.

The donor bike's modified 998cc inline-four supercharged engine now includes direct injection of H2 into the cylinder via a specially developed fuel supply system and hydrogen fuel tanks. These tanks contain high-pressure gas containers and are filled with hydrogen at the rear of the bike in minutes.

This means that riders can still enjoy the roar and vibration of an engine between their legs, and announce their presence to other road users without needing to pipe artificial growls through onboard speakers. Kawasaki says that a small amount of engine oil is burned during the process, but the only other emission is water.

"Hydrogen engines produce power like conventional gasoline engines: air is taken in, mixed with fuel, and then combusted," said project leader, Satoaki Ichi. "Being able to feel the air enter while interacting with the engine adds to the rider's enjoyment of controlling the bike. When hydrogen combusts, water is produced. If you hold your hand near the tailpipe, you can feel it is moist. It is a very gentle engine – like a humidifier on wheels."

However, most hydrogen production isn't as eco-friendly as it could be at the moment, so to clean up the long-haul motoring act completely riders would need to fill the tanks with so-called green hydrogen that uses clean energy for its production. This form of H2 is currently the exception rather than the rule, but by the time any production motorcycle rolls out, that situation could have changed.

And as we noted in our earlier coverage of this project, those droning out the Hindenburg disaster at every mention of hydrogen as a potential fuel source for transport might want to read our piece on hydrogen airships from 2021.

The hydrogen-powered Ninja H2 made its public debut at the Suzuka Circuit in the Mie Prefecture of Japan on July 20, though the track footage below was recorded at Autopolis in Hita City. It's part of the Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology (HySE) research initiative formed in May 2023 by Kawasaki, Suzuki, Toyota, Honda and Yamaha. There's no word on potential production windows for the project.

Source: Kawasaki