What happens when a Kawasaki H2R Ninja goes against a Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda? We’d say utter mayhem and the annihilation of one. But which one?

YouTube channel Wheels just did us all a favor and posted a video that shows a drag race battle between an American muscle car and a Japanese sports motorcycle.

Decoding The ‘Cuda And The Ninja

The Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda was as powerful as you get in a muscle car, and it ages like fine wine. Technically, it’s the performance version of the Plymouth Barracuda and came with a very potent 7.0-liter Hemi V8. At the time, Plymouth rated it at 425 horses, officially, but everyone knew that was too tame a number for this road beast.

What you see on this video has been fine-tuned to near-perfection, and claims to jet 900 horsepower though we suspect it could go as high as 1,000 horses.

The Kawasaki Ninja H2R meanwhile is far newer and comes rated at only 200 horsepower. But then again, there’s a world of a difference between the weight of the two vehicles and not just because of the obvious body sizes.

They made the Ninja light and agile while the Hemi ‘Cuda came with brute strength. So which one will prevail?

Related: Dodge Demon Vs Suzuki Hayabusa Drag Race: One Of These Gets Smoked

Pitting V8 Against An Inline-Four

H2R Kawasaki Vs Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda Drag Race
Via: YouTube

You’d expect the Kawasaki Ninja to fly off at go, with the ‘Cuda following in its stead, slowly building up power. The start of the race left us slack-jawed. While the Ninja H2R was still revving and shifting gear, the green Hemi ‘Cuda took off in such a burst of power, it probably left the Ninja rider stunned for milliseconds.

Juxtaposed against the Hemi ‘Cuda, the Kawasaki Ninja looks almost delicate and seems to be a battle between a nimble-footed ninja and a heavyset Samurai. But it’s the launch of the two vehicles that decide the fate. The Hemi ‘Cuda growls menacingly and takes off squealing with front tires in the air.

The Ninja H2R follows a split-second later with a characteristic whine and does an admirable job of closing the gap between it and its rival. But a quarter-mile and 10 seconds later, a winner emerges, and it’s not the Kawasaki Ninja H2R. The Hemi ‘Cuda wins, by a slight margin, but emerges the winner nonetheless.

You could call the win a bad start for the motorcycle. We’d just call it just desserts for the quintessential American muscle car.

Source: YouTube