Kawasaki Motor Corporation introduced their 250 Ninja to the market in 1986. Since then, the bike has dominated the small sportbike market until recently, in 2011, when Honda introduced the Fuel-Injected CBR250RR. In 2008, Kawasaki did some nice upgrades on the bike, but since then the changes have been minimal (no need to change something that doesn’t need fixing and doesn’t have any competition). All that is about to change with the introduction of the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 250R, details are sketchy right now, as the information is coming from Kawasaki Japan’s website, not from the US website.
The changes are both cosmetic and mechanical. The first upgrade to catch the bike lover’s eye is the new bodywork replicating the Kawasaki ZX-10R. Along with the look of the new bodywork is the change in the design of the lower panels, a great feature in the bigger displacement bikes that keeps engine heat away from the rider. The instrument panel will also see the old-fashioned three-analog gauge layout upgraded to and analog tachometer and an LCD information panel.
As far as the engine, it has not been confirmed that the bike will be fuel-injected, but the engine will be a liquid-cooled, dohc, eight-valve 249cc parallel-twin, leaving readers to believe it will be fuel-injected. Not only is the engine new, but the frame and suspension will also be new. The frame will be a high-tensile steel frame for improved handling and stability, while the suspension has been upgraded to match the frame. It’s also expected that the new 250 Ninja will come with an ABS option.
Pricing is not available yet, nor are color options for the United States market, but in Japan the bike will be available in Lime Green, Lime Green/Ebony, Ebony, Passion Red, Passion Red Stardust White, Pearl Stardust White, and Ebony Metallic Moondust Grey.
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