This 1974 XL125 was gifted to me by my Coastal Empire Moto family while on internship at the shop. I was able to transform the bike as an artistic expression of my senior thesis while attending school in Savannah, Georgia. I offer this back story as it is important to understand the theme addressed to the bike. Inspired to combine simplistic Japanese design and Canadian wilderness a woman’s bike was created. I thought to myself, “let’s go wild”. The process included minor fabrication, aesthetic altering, and personalization. The petite moto’s tail, now in the shape of an “M”, more commonly known as a fishtail, is designed for my name Mia. After a good cleaning, I chose the bike’s predominant blue colour as a tribute to sunsets over Lake Muskoka. I kept the original rims; 21” front wheel and 19” rear and spooned on aggressive off-road-esque tires in an effort to be prepared for rugged Canadian backroads. As I put the front end back together, I scavenged through my dad’s garage for a new set of bars. The narrow Honda S90 thread-throughs fit perfectly and offered the sleek look I was going for. I removed fenders, muffler, and lights to the bare minimum. I stripped the tank and let it sit outside rain or shine to obtain its current patina. After a quick seat pan fabrication with the help of my buddy Aaron, I shaped some new foam for a café racer style, reindeer fur seat. However, it was not enough. I was inspired by vintage BMW gas tanks and fabricated tank clips and to create a fur mohawk to tie it all in. To further extend the wild look, I got my woodworking buddy to create a rare spalted Maple M-shaped cowl and gas cap. Finally, the bike was ready. I had not categorized her, but I noticed after taking a few steps back the bike looked more like a tracker than anything else. So why not throw on a sweet number plate, lucky 13 for petite moto.
