In customizing this bike these factors were carefully thought about:
Simplicity, Form, Functionality, Performance, Safety and Balance, but of course we do not disregard the restriction of budget.
To achieve a scrambler look, the body needs be shortened by cutting the tail of the chassis and attaching a U-bend at the end.
It must be cut in a perfect spot. Not too short because we do not want to have a short-length seat, it would disturb the visual balance, just in the right spot to make the front and rear tires protruding.
The short balanced body will give the illusion of having a monster tires.
We used Honda XL 125 fuel tank to make the body flat and smaller. This will give us a visual balance as opposed to a tall stock XR200 fuel tank.
Installed in the bike are 17-rim/130 Swallow SB-117 rear tires, and 18-rim/100 Swallow SB-117 front tires.
The bike is a product of minimalism with respect to functionality. Protruding or sticking out lights like the signal lights, brake lights/day time running light is not in our taste of beauty in the context of this bike. Since the tiny Kellerman lights are not readily available in the country, we opt to use what is available in our basket. We have the small eagle eye lights. We grind it more to even look smaller. Considering uniqueness, we used these eagle eye lights for signal, brake, and for day time running light that was planted in the bike’s underneath.
A big daymaker headlight with halo would be a perfect match to our taste of beauty. An exemption of antithesis to the simplicity the bike has because we thought that the head -the frontal part must stand for character and superiority.
Notice that the carb is on the left side, we did this deliberately in order to give space to the exhaust elbow. We did this because we have installed a bigger carb, second, we move it to the left side because of our consideration to visual balance. On the right side, you have the exhaust, what about on the left? It’s empty. So we decided to fabricate an intake manifold sticking out to the left. This is balance and function working together.
The hanging exhaust in the right side already gives a lot of weight with respect to visual balance.
When you view the bike from the left side you only have the carb. In this regard, we have thought of fabricating a single bracket for the front fender and the (rear) mud guard both installed on the left side.
In effect, when you view the bike from the right, an illusion of hanging fender and mud guard will blow your mind. This is symmetry, design and function working together.
To give spirit and personality to the bike, an artwork from a local rising artist gave her rendition on how to make the bike alive by incorporating her own technique, style and influence to interpret the owner’s passion for motorcycle and arts. Using a quality permanent marker, she doodles manually, freely and passionately on the fuel tank, side covers, underneath, fender and mud guard. The theme of the doodle art revolves around motorcycle culture, arts, music, freedom and passion.
Above all, our idea of a custom built bike is not just for eye delight. Performance is a part of customization. We want to give a boost to the bike’s speed and acceleration. We have installed a 28mm Keihin carburetor at the same time we upgraded to L300, six-pocket clutch assembly to give boost to the power and torque. Together with meticulous tuning we have achieve a dual sport bike fast enough for road use and powerful enough for off-road and trail use. This is a trademark of a true scrambler, as we call it in Filipino, “pangharabas”.