Kawasaki has released information about its 2012 Ninja 250. Yes, you read that right, Kawasaki has dropped the “R” from its littlest Ninjette. And no, it’s still not fuel injected.

As shown on Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A.’s website, the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 250 has the same specs as the 2011 Ninja 250R, only it’s missing the “R”.  The 2012 Ninja 250 is powered by a249cc liquid-cooled parallel Twin engine with a six-speed transmission. And despite Honda upping the ante with the fuel-injected CBR250R, Kawasaki is keeping its Keihin CVK30 carbs instead of importing the fuel-injected version available in other markets.

Like the 2011 250R, the 2012 Ninja 250 has a 4.8 gallon fuel tank, 37mm hydraulic telescopic fork, preload-adjustable rear suspension and a the same claimed weight of 374.9 pounds.

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The great-looking paint scheme of the new Special Edition Ninja 250R which features Kawi green with black side panels, echoes the MotoGP ZX-RR.

This is a strange time to release such a bike since the British motorsports site Autosport.com recently reported that the Japanese manufacturer will announce its withdrawal from MotoGP racing on Jan. 5, 2009, leaving John Hopkins and Marco Melandri without a ride. I don’t imagine they would be interested in shelling out four G’s of their hard earned cash to buy one of their own but my guess is that plenty of other people will be interested in living the dream.