The Suzuki GN is a series of motorcycles built by Suzuki since the early Eighties, including the GN125, GN250 and GN400. All of them featured air-cooled SOHC single-cylinder engines with chain drive and were designed to be easy to ride by beginners.

Portugal recently updating their licensing laws to allow anyone with a standard car license to ride a motorcycle or scooter up to 125cc in displacement, the idea behind the new law is that the number of cars on the road will drop and the general population will have the chance to save a small fortune on fuel and vehicle expenses by riding a small motorcycle or scooter rather than a car to work. The team at Porto-based Dream Wheels Heritage saw this as an opportunity to take a step into the realm of smaller displacement custom built motorcycles – a genre which is almost non-existent in many parts of the world, especially outside of East Asia. With the GN125 boasting incredibly low running costs, modest but useful urban performance and funky retro looks, the Suzuki GN125 seemed like an ideal candidate.

Built for Andreia Moreira, girlfriend of one of the founders, the basic premise was to craft a custom that was lightweight and easily accessible to a new rider, as she had never ridden a motorcycle before. The team chanced upon this particular model at a sale in a well-used condition from a local driving school. After the mechanicals were thoroughly rebuilt, they sat down with Andreia to discuss the colour scheme and specifications for her soon-to-be daily rider.

The leopard-print seat on the custom Suzuki GN125 is accompanied by a basket, sourced from an old bicycle, which lets Andrea store any oddments, as well as new front and rear fenders, and Tomaselli handlebars. A new exhaust, new rear shocks, new lights, a new gel battery and new tires were fitted along with a slew of other smaller modifications.

Via Silodrome