Jet Ski vs. Motorcycle Race – Who Wins? [Video]

When it comes to motorsports, many enthusiasts are interested in races among different types of vehicles. As jet skis have become more powerful over the years, they’ve become the worthy opponents of many vehicles!

Ever wonder which one would be the fastest in a jet ski vs. motorcycle race? To dispel any doubts, Kawasaki set up a race among its top performance models!

Jet Ski vs. Motorcycle Race

Jet skis vs. motorcycles by the numbers

For starters, we’ve summarized the most important specs below.

Let’s start with the jet ski! This model is a Kawasaki Ultra 310R, which is considered the flagship model in Kawasaki’s fleet. This is the fastest and most powerful jet ski designed for racing purposes. It’s powered with a 1498 cc supercharged engine which produces around 310 horsepower.

Unfortunately, its top speed is limited to 67 mph, but without the speed limiter, its top speed would be much higher! The fastest modified jet skis can hit 120-130 mph on the water!

Are you wondering if this limited top speed would be enough to beat the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX motorcycle?  This model is one of the few supercharged motorcycles in the world and has a 998 cc 4-stroke engine which offers amazing 175 horsepower.

Specs	Ultra 310R Jet Ski	Ninja H2 SX Motocycle
Horsepower	310	175
Displacement	1498	998
Dry Weight	1047	573
Fuel cap (gal)	20.6	4.5
Supercharged	yes	yes

What about fuel? Will one tank of gas be enough for this race? Probably not!

Jet skis are known for consuming a lot of fuel, especially the most powerful, supercharged models.

This Kawasaki ULTRA 310R is not an exception, as it burns around 21 gallons of gas per hour! This means during the race, the jet ski will probably need two fuel stops.

On the other hand, the Ninja H2 SX can ride around 150 miles on one tank of gas, so it means this motorcycle will be good with only one stop.

Competition venue

When it comes to a jet ski vs. motorcycle race, it’s not easy to pick a suitable venue for obvious reasons.

Racing alongside each other, the motorcycle needs a really smooth road that runs along a stretch of river or lake, and the jet ski needs water, as this is where jet skis are known for providing their best performance!

Hence, Kawasaki’s final choice for a racing venue was Lake Powell, as this venue met these expectations. The final race distance was 230 miles on the road and 240 miles on the water.

Also, the landscape is awesome around the lake, which promises an amazing riding experience for riders on both land and water!

But unfortunately, this track has some drawbacks as well, especially for the jet ski. Navigating on this huge lake is very challenging due to its numerous canyons. It means that the jet ski rider won’t be able to easily find the right course and will have to pay extra attention in order to navigate!

There are also no-wake zones on the lake which can mean additional wasted time for the jet ski.

Motorcycles are Better Than Jet Skis (?)

As you can see, the bike finally won the race, but we can say it’s not a clear victory.

The jet ski wasted a lot of time during its fuels stops. By contrast, the motorcycle only needed one pit stop which was fast at 1:21, where the rider didn’t even get off the bike!

Therefor, at the top speed, it’s a fact that a motorcycle is faster than a jet ski in this supercharged category. Based on this fact (and the result) the winner summarizes the conclusion of the race briefly: Motorcycles are better than jet skis. We would argue with this!

Both jet skis as well as motorcycles are amazing – just within their own categories! If you’re thinking about what to buy, a motorcycle or a jet ski, don’t be shy. Why not buy both of them?

You can get a head start by browsing the newest jet ski models in this tool!