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Last year, Zack and Ari went to Northern California to get a story for Motorcyclist Magazine about two of the most technologically advanced and fastest motorcycles for sale today: Kawasaki's supercharged H2 and the all-electric Lightning LS-218. They rode around San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin County, and eventually to the drag strip at Sonoma Raceway. Finally, two of the fastest street bikes available on the market today went head to head in a 1/4-mile drag. The results are plain to see. What we should mention is that the Lightning wasn't geared for the strip—a 66-tooth rear sprocket meant it didn't have the mid-range punch that it could have if tuned properly. And yes, the H2 could've had a pipe on it (though it might not have been legal). But for two showroom-ready street bikes, it was a thrill ride. -- This story isn’t about the future or what it may hold. It’s about today. It’s about the pinnacle of performance in two-wheel propulsion as it stands in the year 2017. Right now. This story is about the best evolution of each technology and a city in which both bikes come alive. World-beating power and a quarter-mile of asphalt. Take a moment to consider the small miracle of these two machines—posing side by side, a Christmas tree in the middle and a straight stretch of pavement shimmering under the lights ahead—rising to the top of the motorcycling world. A supercharged literbike, Kawasaki’s H2, and the electric Lightning LS-218, named after its record-breaking land-speed run. Similar enough that it’s impossible to know which will win and so different it’s hard to know where to start. We could go back a century and a half, to when there were more electric vehicles than gas-powered ones, but there’s no sense in dwelling on the past. Better to go to a place that represents the cutting edge of technology in society: San Francisco, a city hot with welders burning and new buildings reaching into the sky, while beneath on the urban jungle floor the digital information of a new generation of technology flows in torrents. It’s the perfect place for an all-digital superbike to face off against the best internal combustion has to offer. Stage lights illuminate in sequence. Edging the LS-218 forward means twisting the grip ever so slightly, waiting for an ominous click from the motor and the top run of the chain to stretch tight. It stares down the strip through squinty LED eyes. Silent and stoic. The H2 burps baritone revs out the pipe. Four cylinders in line but with a special tone—the chirp the engine makes when the throttle closes is a friendly reminder of the forced induction along for the ride. The H2 hints at something special every time you look at or listen to it. Depending on your perspective of motorcycles and motorcycling, Kawasaki might feel like a regular-size company that aligns with other brands around the world. It’s not. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a colossal business, more than 100 years old with tens of thousands of employees working on trains, ships, aerospace, gas turbines, and industrial robots. The H2 isn’t just a supercharged, $28,000 motorcycle. It’s the best ideas the brain trust of a global superpower in aero and fluid dynamics, metallurgy, and engineering can assemble, all in one place. Which is why the paint glistens just so. It’s applied by hand and actually isn’t paint at all. H2 body panels are primed, wet sanded, and then a chemical combination is sprayed on, which cures by reacting and creating a layer of pure silver. Layers of clear coat are added until it looks like the whole bike was carved from a bubble of mercury. It’s menacing. It reflects the light of the dragstrip and soaks it up at the same time. Lightning started a little more than 10 years ago, with a lithium battery shoved into a Yamaha R1 frame and just enough horsepower (about 65) to make everyone believe that electric propulsion could be the future. Over the past decade, the company has won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, FIM world championship events, and reached 218 mph at Bonneville. Acceptance grew with the accolades. Now anyone with $38,000 and change can purchase a bike with the Lightning power and pedigree. Nothing happens in an instant, but the LS-218’s evolution has been rapid. Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/kawasaki-h2-vs-lightning-ls-218/ Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/MotorcyclistMag?sub_confirmation=1 Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/