Taiwan’s blossoming {custom} bike scene often introduces us to domestic-market bikes that might be thought of obscure virtually anyplace else. The Kymco KTR 150 is a agency favourite amongst native workshops, as are the common-or-garden commuter machines from Hartford. One other nimble runabout has simply emerged from beneath the radar: the Suzuki BS125.
Manufactured in Taiwan in the course of the Nineteen Eighties and offered solely on the native market, the Suzuki BS125 was a single-cylinder, two-stroke bike that shortly gained recognition amongst supply riders. This 1985-model BS125 belongs to Chiu—a designer on the Taiwanese components firm Fangster, who additionally runs a multidisciplinary industrial design studio on the aspect beneath the deal with ZEROVECTOR.
The story of the ZEROVECTOR Suzuki BS125 goes again a decade, to when Chiu was nonetheless at college. “I needed to design and customise my very own bike for my industrial design thesis,” he explains. “As quickly as I had the thought, the BS125 was the primary mannequin that got here to thoughts. I’ve at all times liked two-stroke bikes, and I noticed a variety of artistic prospects with its twin exhaust design.”
In what would finally be solely the primary section of the venture, Chiu designed a sporty trellis body and mono-shock swingarm to transplant the BS125’s motor into. The fabrication and welding have been outsourced to native workshops Disguise Work and B.W.S.—however the subsequent job was all Chiu’s.
“After the body was accomplished,” he explains, “I used design sketches as a foundation to sculpt a 1:1 clay mannequin on the body with none digital instruments. The talent of sculpting clay fashions is one thing I discovered throughout my research in industrial design. Clay fashions not solely assist designers see and contact their designs in three-dimensional house but additionally enable for a extra exact management of curves and shapes.”
300 hours later, Chiu was lastly happy with the design. “The general design conveys a way of pace and dynamics, impressed by the manta ray. I built-in the imagery of the manta’s cephalic fins and pectoral fins into the physique design.”
The following step was to rework the clay sculpture into precise bodywork. Chiu first created a adverse fiberglass mould of the one-piece physique, earlier than utilizing it to construct the ultimate unit out of blended composite supplies. (The physique acts as a canopy, with gas held in a custom-made reservoir beneath it.)
As soon as that was finished, Chiu tasked an undisclosed workshop with executing the rest of the construct. The outcomes have been lackluster; the bike handed muster for his end-of-year venture, however a number of particulars have been off. So as to add insult to damage, the Suzuki wouldn’t begin and had no aspect stand.
“After graduating, I persevered with my imaginative and prescient and launched into a 10-year modification journey to understand the best design I had in thoughts,” Chiu tells us. With the bike as soon as once more stripped right down to its body, he junked all of the bits he was sad with and redesigned them. He then labored with a good community of native craftsmen to systematically put the BS125 again collectively.
“As the unique designer and idea initiator, I spent a variety of time discussing and planning every manufacturing step with these Taiwanese professionals, permitting the imaginative and prescient in my thoughts to regularly take form. Working with these artisans was very pleasant; we’ve identified one another for a very long time and share shut relationships. I’m very happy with the end result.”
The plucky two-stroke was handled to the yokes and forks from a Kymco KTR 150, plus a rear shock from DNM Suspension. Mike’s Storage provided a set of 17” laced wheels, fitted with Dunlop Sportmax Q-Lite tires. The braking setup makes use of Hartford calipers with discs designed and produced beneath the ZEROVECTOR model.
The now-running engine wanted a suitably spunky exhaust, so Chiu ordered a custom-built twin-pipe system from Banai. From the angular headers to the superbly proportioned growth chambers and slim tail-mounted mufflers, the blacked-out pipes match the bodywork at each flip.
As soon as the chassis was fine-tuned, Chiu and co. turned their consideration to refining the prevailing bodywork. Disguise Work was roped in once more to manufacture the Suzuki’s sharp new headlight nacelle and stomach pan, together with a handful of different metallic components. Common Tough Crafts collaborator Simon Fiber Craft jumped in too, including a contemporary carbon fiber veneer to the decade-old bodywork to present it a model new sheen.
ChiRui Leather-based Customized wrapped the saddle in luxe Alcantara, whereas Jeffrey’s Ending Contact took care of the manta ray-inspired paint job. “The blue colour was specifically blended to indicate completely different shades beneath various lighting, revealing the carbon fiber texture beneath, paired with silver leaf stripes mimicking the manta ray’s patterns,” Chiu explains.
There’s little or no off-the-shelf stuff on this Suzuki BS125 road tracker. It options Rizoma bar-end flip indicators, Motogadget switches, and RCB levers, however the remainder of its ending equipment is {custom}. The handlebar risers, grips, fuel cap, fork guards, foot controls, chain tensioner, engine covers, and license plate bracket are all ZEROVECTOR-branded components, designed by Chiu and machined by third events.
With extra assist from his good friend Oscar, Faber Studio, and Triroad Moto Co., the ZEROVECTOR BS125 was buttoned up simply in time for Taiwan’s Velocity and Crafts present.
It took fourth place within the Freestyle class on the occasion, whereas additionally incomes two particular person judges’ picks. However Chiu’s most rewarding second was when the bike was fired up for the primary time in 10 years—asserting its revival with sweet-smelling puffs of white smoke.
ZEROVECTOR Fb | Instagram | Photographs by Ylaha
