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Kawazuki GSX-R H2 Crossbreed

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Suzuki GSX-R Kawasaki H2 crossbreed from Santiago Chopper
Suzuki GSX-R Kawasaki H2 crossbreed from Santiago Chopper

This is what happens when you don’t lock your bike up at night and it runs wild, the Suzuki GSX-R finds a frisky Kawasaki H2 and the next thing you know one of these shows up. The boys at Santiago Chopper, the same ones who built the Norley, combined a 1988 Gixxer with a Kawasaki 2 stroke, mounted a Suzuki B-King front end and added some Denco pipes and rolled out this crossbreed.

Suzuki GSX-R Kawasaki H2 crossbreed from Santiago Chopper
Suzuki GSX-R Kawasaki H2 crossbreed from Santiago Chopper

No mention of how it handles but it looks pretty light and the 2 stroke has a stiffer frame than when it was new so it might be a lot of fun. It’s for sale right now. There’s no indication if they are planning to make more of these, something which may depend on how this one is received. Interesting.

Link: Suzuki GSX-R Kawasaki H2 on eBay – auction over

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders

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Comments

  1. Shades of the Norvins, Beezumphs, Tritons, etc. that came out of England during the 50s and 60s. Take one of the gnarliest motorcycle engines ever built, put it in one of the best frames, with a good front end — it looks like a shambolic mess but should go like stink and be tons of fun to ride. That’s what it’s all about.

    • From a styling standpoint, the lines may not flow very smoothly but their thinking is going in the right direction. Mix and match and make something new.

    • My words exactly. Doesn’t beat the one with the same engine in a traditional Featherbed-based chassis on style, but the again this one may well be more affordable and garuanteed to handle bette than said Kawton.

  3. Is the Stinkbug stance really necessary, maybe for suspension travel?? Or is this just a fad?? The original H2 was a good looking bike, simply brace the frame and add new forks and you could have the best of both worlds. How much suspension travel does a street bike really need?? I always like the use of green on a Kow.

  4. I’ve thought & talked of this concept w/others for years, H2 in a modern chassis that is… great idea, fugly execution.

  5. I recall that by simply welding some brace tubes at the steering head to the big Kawis, handling went from scary to pretty good. Tin Man is headed in the right direction. Still, Santiago is demonstrating what can be done with some imagination and parts of old bikes that are lying around. I’d love to hear those chambers at 10 grand.

  7. Nothing wrong with ugly. For several years I drove a rusty, dented, fender-flapping ’66 Valiant powered by a hot-rodded 170 cu. in. slant-six engine. With a 6-2-1 header and Racer Brown cam it sounded like a School Bus from Hell but with only 2800 ccs it couldn’t run fast enough to get me into real trouble. It was pure fun to drive, and the ugly factor made it eve more fun. I would gladly ride a fugly bike if it made me grin.

    • I’d hardly call a ’66 Valiant “ugly” regardless of what has fallen off. Hot-rod slant sixes are firmly implanted in the “like” side of my brain since I grew up with so many of them.

      This just looks like so much fun to build and talk about. Sure, a stock ’88 Gixxer is better in almost every way than this but you’d be completely forgotten if you rode one around.

      -todd

  8. Good idea… it is just offensively ugly.

    One big thing I like about it though is it makes me appreciate all those builds that look good. Personally I think they should now send this back to the shop and work on the look. Surely it can’t get worse. Of course I understand bikes are like babies… we love our own. This is someone’s pride and joy. I apologize if I’ve offended the builder but trust me surgery is needed. Some won’t tell you the truth.

    Good on you for getting in and working on making it happen. Please pay more attention to aesthetic.

    • Funny. With each sentence you made me like it more.

      Perhaps they were concentrating on getting to to work first. You know, engineering and whatnot.

  9. one of a kind. super cool. love it. made with spares and ebay parts, and prolly still kicks the all magnesium/titanium/thorium/vulconium framed ducati’s @ss.

  10. Interesting build and good to see someone thinking outside the box. Because its a mutant, I would have called it a Kawasuzki.

  12. Well I just watched the video and I stand corrected. It is possible to build a fuglier bike than a stock B King and they have done it.

  13. I see I’m not the only one with a bad reaction to the appearance of this bike…. or the fact perhaps that the BKing fork was an unnecessary addition … or the fact that the original Gixxer was way more powerful than the H2.

    But … bikes are essentially an unnecessary contrivance. So let’s consider that the H2 was iconic for it’s top end power rush … this configuration gives it a chance to live again with running gear that can make the most of that power curve.
    I want to ride it!

    • I am saddened a bit lately by “professional” motorcycle builders that turn out designs and workmanship that could easily be done by average folks in the garage with hand tools. Where are the craftsmen, the hot rodders, the ones with the skills to build something finished and awe-inspiring? Not a hater, just appreciate true hot rodding .

  14. It was a decent engine in its day. And it was a decent frame in its day, too. Combining them in this …. way simply doesn’t make sense. Watching that video says a lot about the builders and their sense of style and biking in general. I am sure they are proud of the bike. However, it’s hard to think of anything uglier. What a sad way to destroy a pair of museum pieces!

  15. As I noted above, the bike is no beauty, but I noticed it and wrote it up because it was an interesting combination of parts. I don’t know the story behind this build but I doubt any “museum pieces” were destroyed to build it, far more likely it was a case of making something from what they had, maybe an engine out of a beater for a frame with a blown engine. In a case like this, you might be able to make a running bike for a lot less than buying a perfectly maintained or restored original of any sort.

    I like seeing what people build, I like seeing people being creative and productive and doing something positive. I wish more people did the same.

    • I agree with everything you’ve said, especially the part where you said “The lines may not flow smoothly.”

      If a bit of effort was put into the “Flow” early in the project, this could be a good looking piece. But they didn’t and sure isn’t.

  16. Now google “kwikasfaki” to see how it should be done. One thing that both these bikes show is how tiny two stoke engines are – they look a bit lost in those frames.

  17. Ummm…no. If they had put a tank on there with a horizontal top, then yeah. This thing looks like I stepped on it! Having ridden the original widowmaker that engine came from, however, I would give it a go as I bet you can’t feel that frame flex under you like the original!!

  19. I had purchased a two-yr-old H2 (back in the late-70’s) and as I’d get it up to around 100-mph, that baby would begin to wobble (closed track, of course–hee-hee-hee!). I had tried a fork brace and stiffer shocks to no avail as I’m sure the frame and swing-arm flexed like hell. But, I still had a lot of fun blasting away from my friends with Hondas, Suzukis and Harleys. Like you Paul, I really enjoy seeing people building interesting and innovative bikes.

  20. The beauty of motorcycles is that a lot of engines will go into a lot of frames, so the possibilities are nearly endless. The Honda CB750 engine was nearly a bolt-in to the Triumph Trident frame (Hmmmm…) — so if someone has an old motor lying around and an empty frame, why not? It might be a wart, but who cares? Just ride!

  21. Love this idea, and I don’t find the execution terribly offensive.

    I also don’t mind seeing top of the line builders doing work that’s a little more like what a “regular” person could build. It’s the same reason people enjoy watching someone slip on a banana peel. It makes everyone human once in a while.

    This bike strikes me as very much a Wednesday night casserole. I’ve got this, that, and the other lying around. Why don’t I toss them together in a pan and see what comes out of the oven. It’s not always pretty, but if you know what you’re doing it will get the job done.

    This looks like a hoot to ride. It’s probably got a little more “character” than the Gixxer had, and a little less than the H2. Therefore, it’s probably just the right amount of scary and woolly without being wet noodle terrifying as the originals are notorious reputed to be.

  22. some one gave me an H2 a few months ago that had sat out in Fl weather for 20 years to haul off as scrap. A collector gave me $1500 sight unseen.

  23. Not a great execution, but I am sure it is a hoot to ride!

    For those younger riders that have never ridden a 2 stroke street bike, they were great fun.

    I am sure they technology exists now to build a street 2 stroke that would pass emissions testing.

  24. The guy riding the bike in the video seems to have a bit of trouble with his balance – is he a beginer or is the bike really that difficult?

    The bike is ugly as sin. the nicest looking H2 special I’ve seen was one in a Rob North frame.

  25. if the tank didn’t look like a deflated baloon it would be ‘okay’. the styling can be fixed. needs clipons. rest is good IMHO. ‘stock’ dencos a bad choice for the frame, should have uused some higgspeed pipes or the like. too much 70’s imposed styling on a late 80’s designed frame. The mechanical execution is great though. of course its my opinion. I’m sure the builder loves it, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.

  26. the builder doesn’t love it enough to keep it, though.

    I dont mind the look and it would be a bunch of fun to ride. I have a VFR400 rolling chassis just lying about at present.. hmmmmm possibilitites

  27. I don’t give a rat’s ass about “styling” on a sport bike; I want performance. Save the styling exercises for cruisers and retro-bikes, where the looks are the point.

    But I do care about my testicles, so the idea of sitting on that bike scares the living bejesus out of me. The seat is as flat as a board and canted forward like a water slide towards the fuel tank. Put some Armor All on the seat and you’ve got a non-surgical means of sterilization.

    An uncomfortable rider lacks speed, coordination, and focus at the end of a long ride (something that Erik Buell recognized years ago). If you’re creating a sport bike for the street, don’t just slap a flat pad where the seat should be. You might want to go for something that’s at least vaguely shaped to fit a human buttocks.