Kawasaki is to produce its first sporty 125 since the 1980s after announcing a new Z125 and Ninja 125 for 2019.

The company has been absent from the learner sports category since the demise of the AR125 two-stroke, which arrived in 1983 and enjoyed over 10 years in production. With Suzuki’s GSX-S125 and GSX-R125 arriving in the marketplace last year, it now means that all four Japanese manufacturers have a presence in this increasingly important class.

Few details have been released by Kawasaki regarding the new models, which can be ridden on L plates after passing a CBT, as they are due to be launched at next month’s INTERMOT motorcycle show in Cologne, but we do know from the specs released that the 125cc engine shared by the two models uses the full 11kw (14.75bhp) allowed by A1 compliant bikes.

The two bikes share the same steel trellis chassis and, by usual Kawasaki naming convention, the Ninja is the faired sportsbike while the Z nomenclature stands for a sports styled naked. No weights have been given for the new models, although we do know that the Ninja 125 has a seat height of 785mm, while the Ninja is slightly taller at 815mm.

Full details of the mini Kawasakis will be announced on October 2, when the bikes will be shown in the metal for the first time at INTERMOT.