Kawasaki's mini-Ninja

INDONESIAN site TMCBlog has managed to scoop pictures of a new 150cc Kawasaki sports bike under test for the Indian and Asian markets.

More a facelift than a new bike – there's already a 150R offered in some countries with this engine and chassis – it actually looks pretty good. The frame might be an unpretentious tubular steel item, and the engine's a pretty simple single, but with mini-Ninja styling to compete with Yamaha's R15 and Honda's CBR150R it's on a par with its rivals.

The difference is that while Yamaha and Honda offer smaller, 125cc derivatives of their bikes in Europe to cater to the learner market, there's no western version of the existing Ninja 150R, and little chance we'll get the new model either.