Back in 2020, we featured one very sleek and clean Kawasaki KZ400 from Sérgio Almeida of Portugal’s WKND Customs. Dubbed “MoneyPenny,” the bike impressed us with its high level of execution and attention to detail. Sérgio, who’s a designer and art director by trade, says he originally started WKND Customs as a small side line:
“This is a small project/business intended to join the the worlds of design and motorcycle fabrication — from idea to reality, from the digital render to the final build. This started only on the weekends and spare time, as the name suggests…”
Since then, however, he’s received enough commissions and custom parts orders that he realized it was time to take things to another level:
“So I quit my job and accepted a part-time position as an art director. I don’t want to make this a full-time thing, at least not for now, to avoid taking the focus from the creative and fun side and putting it on things like profit or time-tracking.”
Fortunately for the rest of us, that means we’ll be seeing more bikes come out of the WKND workshop — in fact, he has four more bikes in the works! This ’98 Honda CG125 — his third build — entered the shop in poor condition. Not only was it a basket case, but when Sérgio pieced together the parts, he realized it had been wrecked and the frame was bent.
He sourced a new front end, complete with wider forks and a disc brake, as well as a new frame, and got to work creating the stunning 125cc custom you see here, nicknamed “Thunder.” Highlights include an extended swingarm, angular rear loop, hand-shaped metal tail section and fork covers, some really neat side panels, and a custom-made electrical control unit with bespoke switches, which allow for more advanced operations such as timed or self-canceling turn signals — look for WKND Customs to market these after testing them on their own custom builds!
Below, Sérgio gives us the full rundown on the build, along with more photos from photographer Joel Araújo (@joel_picsel).
Honda CG Custom: In the Builder’s Words…
About WKND Customs: This is a small project/business intended to join the the worlds of design and motorcycle fabrication — from idea to reality, from the digital render to the final build. This started only on the weekends and spare time, as the name suggests, while working as a designer full-time.
After some time, I started to receive a fair amount of orders for bikes and custom parts; it was clear that I needed and wanted to dedicate more time to this, so I quit my job and accepted a part-time position as an art director. I don’t want to make this a full-time thing, at least for now, to avoid taking the focus from the creative and fun side and putting it on things like profit or time-tracking.
About the Build
This is my third build, and I’m working on four more bikes in different build stages right now. The client commissioned a build, bought a bike very cheap, and brought it to me dismantled in the trunk of his car. A Honda CG125 W from 1998, in really poor condition.
Frame and front end: After putting the bike together, I noticed that it was not even straight. From the bent bars, broken lever, and other scratches on one side, it was clearly crashed in its previous life. First thing was to change the entire front suspension and wheel with those from a bike with wider forks and a disc brake as improvements. After lowered the forks internally and mounting them on the bike via a custom stem, it was clear that the damage was even deeper, so a used frame in better condition was sourced out, and finally I had a straight bike to begin with.
As with all my builds, I always start with some conversations with the client, followed by a digital render inspired by their tastes and the bike’s intended use. This gives them a vision of what it will look like at the end, and the opportunity to make all the requests and changes they want, which will consequently lead to a more seamless and peaceful build process for me. The client didn’t have many requirements besides some gold features, so he approved my render gladly and we named the bike “Thunder” because of the color scheme and graphics.
Gas tank: When the build process starts, the first thing I need is the gas tank, the centerpiece for me. I usually avoid buying vintage gas tanks without the original paint for a reason, but when a CB200 item just like I needed appeared nearby, I took the risk. Of course it had already been sprayed-painted multiple times, hiding years of rust and poor condition metal underneath. After sandblasting, all the necessary repairs were made, new mounts were welded, and the top pad and side badge mounts were eliminated for a cleaner look. A CB125 fuel petcock was mounted and the tank was cleaned and sealed inside.
Extended swingarm: To make the stance of the bike lower and longer and give more clearance for a bigger tyre, the swingarm was extended 50mm, along with new, longer custom-made brake and drum rods.
Subframe: Next it was time to clean all the necessary tabs from the frame and shorten the rear of the subframe. Funny enough, I had just bought a tube bender, but to match the square look of the tank, I decided to make an angular rear loop instead, by making small cuts on the tube and welding it together. To keep things clean underneath and hide the electrical wiring, a tray was welded under the subframe.
Seat cowl: To keep matching the lines of the tank, I made a cafe racer-style seat cowl, but with the same lines as the lower top section of the tank. I didn’t have much experience in metal shaping, but I always trust myself in these challenging parts when making the digital render, when I don’t have much idea how I’m gonna make them happen later!
I started by making a foam mockup to define the design and then used masking tape to transfer it to metal sheet. This way I could reduce the sections needed to only three, bent, shaped, and welded together. To make it look complete, I also made a small pan with foam that was upholstered the same way as the seat, to extend it. The cowl covers the seat end, and it can be removed by loosen ingjust a couple of easy access allen bolts if the rider wants to take a pillion for a spin.
Side panels: Another challenging part were the side panels. I’m not a big fan of a huge empty section under the seat, so I always try to think of cool solutions worthy of being seen instead of simply hiding things away. These were made by bending 10mm aluminium rod for the outline and perfectly notching and fitting inner rods that were fixed and welded in a tricky way to keep things clean. The panels were completed with 2mm aluminium plate and mounted offset on the bike, taking inspiration from the flattrack bikes. Between them is a small box for a lithium battery and all the other necessary electronic components.
Seat: For the seat I made a metal pan, shaped the foam, and drew the stitching pattern on it. It was then covered in black alcantra and stitched in black apart from two lines in gold, which extend the lines from the tank to the cowl.
Fork covers: The last tricky part to make were the fork covers. I always love to see them on vintage bikes or bobbers, and as I couldn’t find ones that fit the bike, I decided to make my own. Hand-rolled from thin sheet metal, two sections for each side were then welded together. Without a roller, this was not a easy task, but they came out great I must say.
Lights: The rear light is a small LED unit with a custom-made aluminium housing to match the style of the headlight.
Switches and control unit: Custom-made aluminium switch housings with gold push buttons. These are attached to a custom-made control unit under the tank, which allows one to use only push buttons and also different commands, like sequences of single clicks or a long press and timers for turn-signals to go off after some time, or if the opposite ones are activated. I developed this with the help of a friend with experience in electronics, and the idea is to test it on my bikes and then start producing and selling them. Same thing with the switches.
Other parts: To complete the fabrication, other parts were made like a rod bracket mounted on one side of the wheel axle and shock mount for a shortened rear fender, and the license plate hanging over the rear wheel.
Because of the previous crash, the original foot pegs and side-stand mount were destroyed, so I made a new one from scratch, then extended a new side stand and mounted new aluminium footpegs. Other parts like the kick-starter, brake, and gear pedals were modified to use the same style aluminium pegs. An ignition key holder is attached to the front of frame under the tank, a rod muffler holder, light brackets, and many other small things.
Final stage: After the fabrication and dry build was complete, the bike was disassembled and most of the parts powder-coated satin black, while the tank, seat cowl, and side panels were painted nardo grey with gold graphics. Some small parts like the footpegs and velocity stack were powdered nardo grey and the light and speedometer rims painted gold.
Every component was cleaned, treated, serviced, or replaced. The hardware that wasn’t replaced with stainless was zinc-plated or chromed. The engine was painted and serviced, the carburetor rebuilt with new jets to match the new exhaust and air intake. All the fluids, seals, and gaskets were replaced. The bike was assembled one last time, new wiring was made, the bike was tuned and tested and finally photographed in the owner’s new house, which was started and finished almost at the same time as this bike. The challenges between the two were equally large, but now both are ready to be enjoyed!
SPECS
-Modified Honda CB200 gas tank
-CB125 fuel petcock
-New angular subframe loop
-Aluminium side covers
-Battery box under the seat
-Electronics tray
-Alcantra seat with black and gold stitching
-Removable seat cowl
-Custom fork covers
-Extended swingarm
-Longer custom-made brake and hub rod
-Wider forks, fender mounts shaved from the legs
-Lowered front suspension
-Longer EMGO rear shocks
-Bates-style 4.5” headlight
-LED rear light with custom aluminium housing
-Small turn signals
-Lithium battery
-Custom control unit
-Gold push buttons in a custom aluminium housing
-New wiring
-Braided fabric fuel and air tubing
-Braided sleeve for wires and other cables
-Stainless brake line
-Small speedometer
-New ignition key switch
-Neutral warning light between the tank and the triple tree
-New horn
-Aluminium street handlebars
-Shaved levers
-New aluminium throttle grip
-Tygon tube oil reservoir
-Biltwell Recoil grips, grey
-Rear fender and license plate holder
-New sprockets and chain
-Aluminium footpegs
-Powder-coated rims and hubs, laced with black spokes and gold-plated nipples.
-Mitas H04 tyres, 3.50×18 front and 4.00×18 back
-Revised engine painted black with stainless steel allen bolts
-Rebuilt carburetor with new jetting and a velocity stack with a gold mesh and foam insert
-New exhaust header, painted black with a “trumpet” muffler
Follow the Builder
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wkndcustoms/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wkndcustoms/
Photos: @joel_picsel
Avevo un Cagiva SST 125 che amavo pazzamente, anche se era un 125 era una biciclettata da guidare leggerissima, la vostra mi ricorda la mia, leggera, bello il colore e le rifiniture!
You guys have too much time on your hands ! I see a potential Grom killer here really! If it does not do that already ! This would be a good one to post on racer TV as the narrator has already built himself a Honda 125 Cafe racer ! Once upon a Time back in the 1970s I was working for a Honda dealer and we had an old CB 125 trade-in that was wrecked and bashed and torn and ripped and destroyed.. so I asked the boss if I could make an illegitimate four stroke CR out of what was left of it, answer my amazement the boss said okay if you do it on your own time and I’ll pay for all the parts but I get to sell it as soon as someone wants to buy it…. And I said okay I’ll do it…. So we ordered a poweroll kit that consisted of a stroker and a bore kit combined to give you 175 cc’s , and at that time the CR 125 were red , so I used the fenders side covers and paint the frame red and a red gas tank…. At that time I belong to our local Motocross Club where we had access to the track at all times and on Wednesday nights we would practice there… My rival in the 250 class showed up that night with his 1975 CR250 R and then five laps I lapped him … And on race days I was using my 1976 CR250R against them and we were usually nip and Tuck on race days and it was anybody’s guess who would win, so this guy was pretty fast on his CR250R and it was speechless when I passed him on this illegitimate CRF 125 that I had made.. and it wasn’t a week later the boss sold the bike to a father and son team who raced it in hare scrambles for 2 years winning…