The Kawasaki Ninja H2R has been billed as one of the year’s most exciting superbikes->ke1888. For the most part, that hype has been justified, but like anything else in this world, even the mighty Ninja H2R isn’t perfect.

Owners in Australia are about to find that out the hard way now that there’s a recall notice from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission because of potential issues with the bike’s warning harness.

Normally, recalls from other regions don’t necessarily affect the same models in other places. But the situation with the Ninja H2R is different since there are only a limited number of Ninja H2R all over the world. So there’s a possibility, even though it hasn’t been announced yet, that other markets that have received the Ninja H2R could face a similar recall in the coming days or weeks.

As far as the problems itself is concerned, the ACCC has said that the warning harness on some Ninja H2R models may get pinched between some frame parts, leading to potential damage to the wire that could cause the engine to either stall, or worse, lead to excess fuel injection. The latter scenario is pretty scary since such a situation could increase the risk of the bike catching fire.

Fortunately, the Ninja H2R’s road version, the H2, isn’t affected by the same issue.

In case you own a Ninja H2R here in the US, do your due diligence and try to find out if the issues affecting some of the Ninja H2R models in Australia could somehow affect your model too. Better be safe than sorry, ladies and gentlemen.

Continue reading to read more about the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's recall of the Kawasaki Ninja H2R.

Why it matters

This particular recall still doesn’t affect Kawasaki Ninja H2R models in the US but if I was an owner of the superbike, I’d be paying close attention on what happens with the recall in Australia and, more importantly, if models in other markets are also affected by this issue.

This is serious business because if there’s one bike that needs to be running smoothly and in all cylinders, it’s the Ninja H2R. Take away the cost for a second here because while that’s important, it’s not as important as what the bike is capable of when it’s running on full blast.

We all know how fast and powerful the Ninja H2R is. But what happens when something inside is malfunctioning and we don’t know about it? That’s a recipe for disaster, especially if the bike is being ridden to its full potential when the problem manifests itself.

Forget about getting hurt because there’s a possibility that someone could get killed because of this problem. I know that it sounds fatalistic to even bring it up, but it’s important I do so because of what could happen to riders who don’t treat this recall notice - even if it’s just in Australia - with the seriousness it deserves.

Here’s what I’d do: I’d go to my local Kawasaki dealership and seek more information about this recall. If there’s even the slightest possibility that the NHTSA could issue a similar recall in the future, I’d steer clear of riding the Ninja H2R until these problems are addressed.