Kawasaki announced today the launch of the new Z250 for the Indonesian market. According to Team Green, the new streetfighter is part of a naked sportbike category stemming from the original Z1 to today’s Z800 and Z1000. Besides a lot of hyperbole, information is in short order but what we know is that the new Z250 will be powered by the same 249cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 8-valve, parallel-twin found in the Ninja 250. It also shares its frame, instrumentation, fork and rear suspension with its faired counterpart.

The possibility of a similar model coming stateside utilizing the new 296cc engine found in the Ninja 300 is questionable, maybe depending on the sales success of the Ninja 300. Our initial opinion regarding the Ninja 300 is more than positive; by upping displacement 50cc Kawasaki has created one of best all-around small-displacement bikes and we’d like to see a naked version using this engine format.

Specs