The Kawasaki ZH2 - The Bike that Polarised Opinion | VALENCIA MOTO GP WEEKEND WITH MICHELIN

The Kawasaki ZH2 - The Bike that Polarised Opinion  | VALENCIA MOTO GP WEEKEND WITH MICHELIN

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It is two days until the big one the title  decided at the Valencia MotoGP I've never   been to a Moto GP in my my life and I cannot  wait because Michelin sent me an email a few   months ago they said Freddie you're invited  to a two-day two-night experience it will be   Saturday where I'll be riding a number of  of some of the most powerful motorcycles   on the market in Valencia and on Sunday of  course it'll be the Moto GP itself full VIP   experience and have a listen to this what  I'll be riding on Saturday just to give you   a taster of what Michelin have got in store  for me there will be on test a Ducati Super   Sport Ducati Multistrada BMW s 1000xr BMW r1250r  Kawasaki Ninja H2 Kawasaki zh2 and Kawasaki ZX10R so that will be roughly twice the horsepower  that that I'm used to it's going to take me   four hours 400 kilometers to get from here  Barcelona over to Valencia but I mean now   I'm here in Barcelona I couldn't not ride to  the MotoGP apparently it's meant to be a huge   deal Riders from all over Europe actually come  to the Valencia MotoGP and Camp there I'll be   doing it a bit more luxury in a hotel but still  I can't wait I'll take you with me I'll probably   split this into two videos one of me attempting  to test ride some 200 horsepower motorbikes in   the Hills at the outside Valencia and the second  one which feels so lucky the Moto GP within the   actual VIP section so I'll try and film as much  as I can of the race there itself right I mean   I'm an hour later and I wanted to go I've got  a head off I'll take it with me let's go always don't know I've been down so long  that my mind can't get no rest no no cause the damn was on my tree well I'm nearly there I've done three and  a quarter hours and it's a lovely stretch   of Motorway on the left hand side you get sea  views for much of the ride and then the right   hand side you have Mountain views I've  just got half an hour left so I thought   I'd do a gear for the day because I'll also be  wearing this for all of the bike tests tomorrow   you rock steel Martin Boots Italian company I've  had these for about two years and they're very   very nice slick pair of stealthy boots all-day  comfort as well her jeans now these aren't   the usual sk11 slim fits that I wear these are  actually the k7s so you can see it's a straight   leg all the way down just a bit looser fitting  throughout hujin's now fully back in stock so   if you are looking for them every single size  and every fit whether it's slim fit or regular   they're all back in stock so you can grab a pair  now if you are interested this is the Bell stuff   like Bell stuff Brooklyn's jacket one of the  classiest in fact it's probably my favorite biking   jacket I've ever tried removable lining wax cotton  this is a size medium sometimes I'm medium to   large in different jackets but definitely for the  bow style stuff I'm a medium so if you're around   my size I'm six foot one about 80 kilos you want  a medium as well with exclusive rage shiny black   helmet French company I hope you can pick that up  but it's the most beautiful inner lining and fully   removable just Chuck it in a normal 40 degree  wash and you can wash the whole inner lining   with again I wear these all the time because they  are probably my favorites German company throttle   snake the glove Trotter gloves just absolute  Simplicity and I love them right last half an   hour then I'll be at the hotel actually there's  one more thing I'll quickly show you this is   my new backpack it's not a biking brand but it  doesn't need to be for backpacks this is Herschel   and it's a really nice quality classically styled  backpack very very easy to use and this makes a   big difference when you're biking you need to get  stuff and open it constantly getting in and out   these are buckles but they're just magnetized  so the Buckle is just just for the looks and   actually they magnetize and clip on incredibly  easily zip closed underneath there this is   drawstring on top with lots of padding on the  back you can see huge areas of padding so it   gives a really good amount of support when you're  riding like I have done for three hours or so and   very very thick straps it's a really heavy duty  backpack I think it looks fantastic and after   using it three and a half hours I would highly  recommend it Herschel definitely check them out well I made it and I've just about managed to  squeeze that's okay squeeze the Bonneville in   right outside the hotel here you can see Michelin  Flags either side I've seen a few other bikers   coming and going I think there'll be a big  range of nationalities at this actual meal   this evening and this will be my accommodation  for the next three days you know Michelin   they always treat me too well it's a lovely  apartment or a lovely hotel room bathroom with separate Blue Area there I'm just a  huge amount of space here cupboard area   and coming through into the bed area with plenty  of room at the back for table and chairs as well   I just had a knock from uh Hotel stuff  they gave me I think must be a bag of   toiletries a few chocolates there  a couple of bottles of water and   a welcome pack from Michelin well I've got a  few hours before going downstairs to dinner so   I'll show you what comes in a Michelin  race pack cap I hope this isn't needed   umbrella do you actually need one of those so  delighted with that this will probably be needed water flask keywing and I've  been told these are needed by   a few people because it gets insanely loud earplugs a necessity I've been told Plus no idea what this is foreign I thought that was waterproof that if a  Michelin let me hold on a Michelin bike cover foreign I've quickly come out before we've had it off you  can see the sun rising just over there because   I had to get a glimpse of the bikes lined up  Bonneville perfectly there everything nice and   safe and overnight a whole load of gigantic  BMW gs's parked up and the Bonneville looks   quite pathetic next to them right I'm going to go  upstairs get ready but just to give you a little   glimpse of the lineup we've got ktm's BMWs Ducatis  a few of them are on different Michelin tires so   the aim of today yes get to test out the bikes  but also get to feel the difference riding the   same model motorbike with different tires and  the effect that those different tires can make   on that bike so I'm hugely excited I mean to be in  Valencia now the day before the MotoGP and get to   test out some of these bikes behind me the most  powerful bikes that I will ever ever have ridden   in my life by such a huge distance I mean you  know I can't even compare it to anything else   I'll do a rundown of all of the bikes outside here  because it's Moto GP weekend and you've got a lot   of bikers turning up now so just give you a a bit  of a hint a bit of idea about what other people's   bikes are here who have made their way to the Moto  G because it feels like it's really heating up now   so these are all of the Michelin bikes there you  can see the Michelin Team all getting ready these   are the ones we'll actually be riding and  I'll go through more details in a bit but   these are some of the bikes that have turned up  I guess just to watch the Moto GP you know you   can see these are Big A lot of them BMW gs's  Honda Taurus but you know when they've done a   lot of mileage when the number plates actually  been so bleached by the sun you can't even see   it they're Portuguese spikes Portuguese little  Vespa there and all of the BMWs these I'm sure   won't be the ones we're taking out but again they  love their gs's out here and these May well be so it's got the Michelin logo my guess  is that these will be the two outriders   who'll be leading us around for a three-hour  ride into the mountains of Valencia right   that's it I've got to get ready I've got 10  minutes until we need to be outside the hotel thank you well we're about an hour or so into the ride I've  tested out three bikes now I mean the weather's   stunning the the road surface is incredible  it's like riding Heaven I started off on the   effectively the tamest bike which is this the 900  CC BMW on the the basically the most Road focused   version of the three Michelin tires and I'll put  all of the details here about the three tires so   there are in essence three of them one is Road  focused one is rode in a bit of track and one   is track Focus where you really at the very least  need to have completely dry roads if you're going   to be riding it on normal roads and not a track so  I started off on the 900cc BMW on the road tires   and after talking to everyone about it you know  it's a bike that so flower me it's a bike that is   is fine but everyone had the same reaction as me  to this BMW when when they tried it out and that's   you know it's not going to set the world like  it's also not the most characterful bike with   that engine you know it's very good at its job  but it's not something that you know you're   going to have sleepless nights thinking about but  handling everything very very good bike I'll do a   flip round of that in a second because I think it  comes in in a fairly decent price point as well   I then moved on to this the Kawasaki H2 or zh2 I  think this is 197 horsepower and it's on the most   track focused tires so I was worn beforehand with  these tires you have to make sure they're at least   up to a decent level of temperature so I spent  the first 30 seconds riding this bike completely   genuinely petrified because uh you know you know  200 horsepower track tires I made sure I went at   the back of the queue because uh I didn't want to  embarrass myself but honestly after about a minute   I found that to be riding Heaven the power is like  a spaceship the handling Sublime it's one of the   most incredible bikes I've ever tried and that  surprises even myself because I'm not a sports or   fast bike kind of person but this is a sensation  this bike it's completely blew my mind and on   these roads I felt like I was in riding Heaven  although I should say that I was just talking to   a motorcycle journalist a German motorcycle  cycling German journalist who was on that   that Kawasaki for about two minutes and I said  to him so did you like it he said no awful get   me off it and he wanted to switch back to  the BMW 900 so it's a Marmite bike there   have now been two people who have hated that  Kawasaki but I've liked it oh it's a fun day   next up I'm on this big BMW I'll get all of the  sets in a second that's the Thousand CC s1000.   we've got about three or four more bikes to test  we've got about I think two more hours of riding   to go and I should hopefully make my way through  all of these bikes but it's been fascinating just   getting to try these bikes so far you can see  they're doing a few drive-by photos at the moment   we're just on a Bend here oh it's a good way to  spend the day all right let's do a little walk   around of this the Kawasaki zh2 this is in the  UK 16 and a half thousand pounds which is a lot   of money but you get so much performance out of it  it's 197 horsepower and it's of course a thousand   CC but look at this on the side of it I've never  ridden a bike with that before supercharged   you know these are the the cars that have been  following us you've got a fairly simple Audi A3   but then you've got two Mercedes amg's behind  it so they've been following getting all of the   shots and I waited as long as I could in this  gave on a long straight the other bikes as far   as they could into the distance and then I just  flawed it as much as I could and its spaceship   levels of quick it's actually I'm surprised  at how addictive it is that feeling of power   but that's it the fastest bike I've ever ridden  effectively 200 horsepower a krapovic pipes and just to give you a little idea  on the light up display there   Superbike really superb and this was the first  bike I tested the BMW f900 this comes in at 8   600 pounds and I think if I remember I  think it's about a hundred horsepower   it's a it's a decently smart looking bike we've  got four of these today they're they're good   at their job this is it in Black it just doesn't  specifically do anything for me as a bike although   being a BMW of course they do things properly  and it's all beautifully well put together and   I do think and it's great to see three of them I  do think 8 600 pounds for a bike with that much   performance I actually think it's quite good value  at that price point maybe especially in Black   it's a mean looking bike okay let's do a little  bit of a behind the scenes you're going to hear   quite a bit of German Spanish and French talking  because I think there's only one other Brit here   so to look at those two amg's the pursuit cars  and now we've got a couple of the bikes going   out to get to get the drive by shots or the ride  by shots so they're going to go down there now in   a three and you can see how beautiful the roads  are we haven't seen anyone for about 20 minutes   or so they're about to head down there fly back  up get some pictures with the photographer there   the landscape is spectacular  so open so much space questions well we made it to the Moto  GP at the qualifying session   you can see people people leaving all around me  because the final qualifier has just finished I'll   be a full tour tomorrow just because it will be at  its absolute capacity but it's got a real Festival   Vibe I mean we went here just behind me to get our  tickets and just as we were getting our tickets   Valentino Rossi just rides past and it's one  two five cc scooter amazing the ride itself was   brilliant I only got to test out one extra bike  which was that BMW SX 1000 very competent bike   again that engine it's not the most characterful  engine and the seat is like a rock honestly it's   one of the least comfortable seats I've tried  but it's a very competent bike amazing day in the   Hills just really three hours of incredible riding  so I'll leave it there and I'll come back to you   tomorrow with a full tour of the Moto GP because  I've been told by an expert a few interesting   things to look out for tomorrow so I'll do my very  best to a good guided tour well I've got lucky and   on the way back the final little stretch I've  got one more bike to test and that is the Ducati   Super Sport 950. this is a bike that quite a  few people have said it's one of the best in   the lineup that's the KTM 1290 that I won't get  to test big BMW just behind it and this this is   the KTM 890 I think and this is about quite a few  people have said it's the best bike in the lineup   Kawasaki and BMW there the other BMW and that's  the rest of the lineup but this the Super Sport   let me just squeeze through it's a lovely  looking bike not absolute hardcore Super Sport it should be lovely handling thing thank you oh that was a long day but I found it  fascinating I learned quite a few things today   firstly delighted I got to try out the Ducati  and it was after being on on those two BMWs a   revelation because the two BMWs that I tested  lovely bikes they do their job brilliantly they   are excellent bikes but but they're devoid of soul  and you get on the Ducati you get the vibrations   the rumbling you know the wing mirrors the  mirrors they vibrate so much over 20 miles   an hour they're completely useless you may as  well get rid of them but I realized how much   I crave that intangible thing the character  and the soul and if we're down to the last   10 years or so of petrol motorcycles being sold in  Europe if we're coming to the end my Lord I want   one last hurray I don't want to be whimpering out  with petrol engine bikes that are just sounding   more and more like electric motorcycles until it's  just such a gradual transition you barely even   notice the difference I want an engine that sings  and I want a bike with so much character makes   me jump off it at the end of a day and I'm just  feeling so happy that I spent a day in a saddle   well the BMWs are excellent you know it it  doesn't specifically do anything to me they're   great at their job but I I just I ended up feeling  quite cold and not desperate to get back on those   spikes it was a really interesting experience as  something else I've learned I had a 2007 Triumph   Speed Triple 130 horsepower bike it was a monster  of a super naked and the reason I'm saying this is   don't worry if you can't afford one of these the  latest and greatest motorcycles because honestly   probably for the past 12 years or so 12 to  15 years motorcycles have been so good and   so reliable that for any normal Rider like you  and I the difference between my 2007 Triumph   Speed Triple and one of these modern motorcycles  for any normal Rider you are not going to notice   any difference at all on real roads you could  say that the older bikes may have slightly more   characters so from that point of view don't  worry at all you know look at one of these   new modern bikes that are all brilliant but then  you can look at the older version because they're   all so damn good from the past 10 to 15 years  old and another thing personal preference you   know these are all excellent bikes that we were  testing out today some of the latest and greatest   but it's personal preference example the  Kawasaki zh2 I thought that was my pick of   the bikes for the day it was completely Sublime  the power delivery the suspension the handling   everything was just so seamless and so smooth it's  a stunningly good bike it's Sublime to ride really   really breathtakingly good I then spoke to four  different people in fact I spoke to five different   people of the five different people three despised  it despised it and myself and one other liked it   now the interesting thing with that is I asked two  German motorcycle journalists who both write from   German motorcycle magazines one of them detested  it so much he got off it after one minute the   other one said it was one of the best bikes it  tested today and it was stunningly good you know   so even for these bikes you get huge differences  in opinion even from the experts it's purely down   to personal preference what bike do you like more  than any other there's no right or wrong answer   that's what I've learned today and riding a 200  horsepower bike like I did the Kawasaki zh2 it's   only as scary as you want it to be you know it's  actually relatively tame if you just want to you   know stay under 70 miles an hour it's just a a  beautiful handling bike extremely smooth if if   you want to give it some it's a I mean it's an  animal but it's still a smooth animal it's a   beautifully smooth bite that it's definitely my  pick of the day you know motorbikes they're only   as dangerous as you want them to be right I'll  actually wrap it up there and save tomorrow's   video for or the video that I've filmed tomorrow  for the Valencia GP specifically because after   going there today for qualifying there's a lot of  interesting stuff um you know we've got access to   the the paddock at the VIP so it'll be quite  interesting I think so I'll save that for one   dedicated video and I think I've spoken quite a  bit about motorbikes today I probably rambled a   bit as well so we'll wrap this one up here  thank you so much everyone for coming along   have a fantastic day and week and I will speak  to you all I will see you all in the next one

2022-11-13 16:29

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