Father-Daughter Duo: Suzuki VanVan 200 Scramblers

From Slipstream Creations: “All the Little, Big Details…Twice”  

The Suzuki VanVan 200 has to be one of the funkiest production bikes on the market, a fat-tired air-cooled dual-sport that seems like a runaway from simpler times. We’ve seen these street-legal thumpers tackle everything from MSF Basic Rider Courses to morning coffee runs to vintage scrambles (modern class) with surprising aplomb. It’s the modern equivalent of the old Yamaha BW200 “Big Wheel” and Honda Fat Cat of yore.

We aren’t the only ones who’ve warmed to the VanVan — it’s a favorite across the Pond as well:

“Here at MCN we have a secret –we all love the VanVan. It’s our guilty pleasure and to be honest no-one can really put a finger on what it is about this bike that makes it so appealing. On paper the Suzuki is an outdated bike with ridiculous tyres, retro styling and a weedy motor that…would still lose a tug of war contest with an eight-year-old. But if any bike is guaranteed to make you smile, it’s the VanVan.” –MCN

Dirt Bike even did a full off-road test with a VanVan 200 in Utah with surprising results:

“For single-track desert trails…the VanVan is completely at home… We had to be careful how hard we hit rock ledges to keep the suspension bottoming to a minimum, but the tires worked incredibly well. We couldn’t hang with 450 off-road bikes, but they stayed somewhat in sight.” –Dirt Bike

Recently, we heard from one of our very favorite builders, James Fawcett of St. Louis-based Slipsteam Creations, who’s best known for his lovely vintage Honda builds. In this case, however, the client had something different in mind — pair of custom dual-sport scramblers…with a twist:

“This had to be done as an entirely bolt-on project. The plan was for us to build a completely finished custom VanVan in our shop here in St. Louis, but make duplicates of every single part, so the customer could build an identical (except for tank color) bike for his daughter, at home in Florida.”

That meant everything had to be bolt-on — no chopping, welding on the frame, or invasive rewiring. But if anyone was up to such a challenge, it was James — a man known for his focus on “all the little, big details.”

James gives us the full rundown on the build below, but highlights include fat front wheel conversions (à la Fat Cat), shaved CB360 tanks with custom (bolt-on) mounts, subframes that bolt directly to the stock rear tank mounts, steel seat pans, dual LED headlights with custom bolt-on brackets, shortened rear fenders, and all those little, big details, twice!

The result is one unique pair of father-daughter scramblers sure to bring smiles and memories for many years to come.

VanVan Scramblers: In the Builder’s Words…

When a customer from Florida reached out to us with a vague idea for not one, but two custom dual sport motorcycles, we were eager to jump at the challenge. After exploring options for a fun, easy to ride, and easy to maintain bike, we settled on a 2018 Suzuki VanVan. Our goal was to keep the fun-loving characteristics of the 200cc dual sport, but give it a bit of an attitude adjustment. We wanted to take the cute and quirky look of the VanVan and transform it into something a bit more aggressive, and with cleaner and classier lines.

But there was a twist: this had to be done as an entirely bolt-on project. The plan was for us to build a completely finished custom VanVan in our shop here in St. Louis, but make duplicates of every single part, so the customer could build an identical (except for tank color) bike for his daughter, at home in Florida. That meant no cutting and welding on the frame, and minimally-invasive wiring updates. Everything that we fabricated had to be attached to the bike using existing mounting locations — subframe, headlight, turn signals, etc.

One of the first things you notice on the finished build is the front tire. To achieve the look we were after, we performed a fat front wheel conversion on the VanVan. From the factory, the VanVan comes with an extra-wide 14″ rear rim and fat tire, but a narrower 18″ rim in front. We were able to lace up another 14″ rear rim to the front hub, using custom stainless steel spokes and nipples from Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim. We powder-coated the hubs and rims in black and mounted fat Bridgestone tires on the front and back to give the bike its real over the top look.

A major decision we had to make that would really impact the overall look of the build, was what tank to use. We build a lot of custom vintage Hondas here at Slipstream, so we happened to have a couple of Honda CB360 tanks on hand. These tanks were just the right size and shape.

We were able to fabricate some bolt-on front tank mounts that move the tank a couple inches forward, just slightly higher than the stock mounting location. We also integrated a rear tank mount into the custom bolt-on subframe we built.

The tanks were shaved and painted in solid colors with no graphics — one in red and one in black. The clean look of the tanks help give the custom VanVan a bit of an understated look in contrast with the oversized tires and dual headlights.

All of the lighting on the bike was updated. We built a custom headlight mount with perimeter guard that would wrap around dual headlight beams with LEDs. The bracket mounts to the stock headlight mounts on the lower triple clamp, and has integrated LED turn signals from Motogadget.

In the rear, we made some custom turn signal stalks for the Motogadget turn signals, that also double as fender bolts. A low-profile LED tail light unit was added atop the fender.

To give the rear fender a more streamlined look, we were able to get OEM black rear fenders for the VanVan, and shorten them by about 4-inches to give the bike a bit more streamlined look, but still provide at least some protection from the elements.

One of the more challenging parts of the build was figuring out how to create a nice beltline to the bike, considering the odd factory shape of the VanVan. And of course, we had to accomplish that without any welding on the frame. We managed to fabricate a custom subframe that bolts onto the stock rear tank mounts. This provides nice horizontal tubes that flow with the bottom edge of the tank, and provide a seamless line from front to back. We included tabs to mount custom steel side covers.

The seat pan was fabricated out of steel to fit the new subframe, and wrapped neatly over the hump of the rear fender. We upholstered it in a simple pleated black vinyl to give the bike a clean and simple look. We rounded out the build with a new black handlebar, and a Trailtech Vapor digital instrument panel and indicator lights.

In the end, this build turned out just as we’d hoped. We kept the fun and approachable demeanor of the Suzuki VanVan 200, but gave it more of an aggressive look and feel. We were able to accomplish this with entirely bolt-on updates that flow seamlessly with the bike and don’t look like bolt-ons at all. All of the work to complete this dual sport project was performed in-house — from custom metal fabrication, paint, powder coat, electronics, and upholstery.

Build Sheet

• Custom fabricated bolt-on subframe
• Custom steel side covers
• Custom seat pan and seat upholstery
• Custom headlight mount with dual LED beams and Motogadget turn signals
• Customized rear fender with low profile LED tail light
• 14″ extra-wide front rim and fat front tire
• Custom fuel tanks
• Top-end engine rebuild with ported and polished head
• Trailtech Vapor digital instrument panel with indicator lights
• All the little, big details, but twice

 

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• Website: slipstreamcreations.com
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