Nabspeed Moto’s Kevin Schwantz Pepsi RGV Replica…
The legendary Kevin Schwantz earned the title of “Wheelie King” at the 1988 Macau Grand Prix, where he shaved an incredible 7 seconds off the outright lap record aboard his Pepsi Suzuki RGV500.
“In the race, he disappeared off into the distance and with such a commanding early lead, decided to give the crowd and the press photographers their money’s worth by putting on a spectacular show of wheelies galore on his shrieking two-stroke RGV500!” -Duke Video
While Schwantz won the 1993 500cc World Championship on the Lucky Strike RGV, his earlier 500cc Pepsi Suzuki RGV500 remains one of the most iconic MotoGP bikes of all time. The Texan won at least 8 Grand Prix races on the bike, as well as Macau, and the brutal two-stroke monster became synonymous with Schwantz’s do-or-die riding style.
In the late 1980s, Suzuki produced a very limited Suzuki RGV250 VJ21 “Pepsi Edition” in honor of the Wheelie King’s racing successes, and these production bikes and Schwantz’s actual RGV500 have inspired any number of tribute bikes and specials.
One of the hottest we’ve seen is this Suzuki RGV250 from Nabspeed Moto (formerly Ride and Restore), which broke cover at the 2026 Bike Shed Show last month. You might have seen a few photos of the bike in our superbike gallery from the show — now we’ve tracked down builder Christian Bell for the full story, more photos, and even a video of this smoker.
You might remember Christian from the “Ghost 8” Moto Martin Z1000J he built for Simon Norbury of Game of Thrones — a bike we featured earlier this year.
This RGV was built for customer David Stone, who’d amassed an arsenal of parts to build the bike himself…but as so often happens, life got in the way. Fortunately, Christian and team were only too pleased to take on the project.
The frame is an early 90s Suzuki RGV250 VJ21, while the rest of the chassis parts are a mixture of the VJ21 and VJ22 models. The 250cc two-stroke V-twin was built by Viper Racing UK with all kinds of goodies, including billet heads and a Tyga Exhaust kit.
In fact, the bike is literally dripping in trick Tyga Performance parts, including the bodywork, which Christian calls “the best quality fairing kit we have ever used.”
Weighing just 130 kilograms (287 lbs) with an estimated 70 hp on tap, this Kevin Schwantz tribute is one hell of a ride.
“It’s got to be one of the most nimble and fun things to ride that we have ever had in the shop. It’s so small…and really urges you to throw it about. The engine is quite happy plodding about at 2000 rpm but will really reward you when it opens up. A mega exciting ride and it gets SO much attention when you’re out mainly thanks to that ZING from the exhaust.”
Nicknamed “Is Pepsi Okay?”, this RGV250 was a huge hit at the Bike Shed Show. Below is our full interview with Christian about the build, and be sure to follow Nabspeed Moto for updates on more of the shop’s projects.
Suzuki RGV250 Restomod: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
We are Nabspeed (formerly Ride and Restore), and we build custom motorcycles and manufacture CNC components at our shop in Pott Shrigley near Macclesfield. We have recently changed our business name to reflect the change in focus, and these days we don’t do that much restoration work any more as we are chockablock with custom builds.
We specialize in Japanese bikes from the 1970s to 1990s, and most of our builds focus around performance and racing replica-based machines.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
The bike frame is a Suzuki RGV250 VJ21 from the very early 1990s. And the rest of the parts of the chassis are a mixture of VJ21 and VJ22. The engine is the awesome 250cc two-stroke V-twin built by Viper Racing in Ashton Under Lyne with a load of trick parts added such as billet heads and Tyga Exhaust kit.
• Why was this bike built?
The customer, David Stone, originally wanted to build the bike himself and had amassed a huge collection of nice parts and ideas, but had never really got round to making a start, as life always seems to get in the way of these things. So late in 2025 he called us and asked if we wanted to take the project on…something we obviously couldn’t refuse.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
A Kevin Schwantz Pepsi RGV replica was the strict instruction! It’s been done before, and it will be done again, but we are still delighted to be able to build a bike to honour the Wheelie King!
• What custom work was done to the bike?
As David originally wanted to build the bike himself, the bike was always going to be a bit of a “catalogue build”. It’s got pretty much every Tyga Performance part from the brochure, and it was a pretty simple build in that respect, but what an epic result!
• Does the bike have a nickname?
I can’t help thinking when I see the Pepsi logo: “Sorry, we don’t have Coke…is Pepsi ok?”
The name stuck and it got a few laughs on the placard at the Bike Shed Show.
• Any idea of horsepower, weight, and/or performance numbers?
With the modifications I would expect the engine to be hitting around 70 hp, which with under 130kg weight, it goes like stink!
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
It’s got to be one of the most nimble and fun things to ride that we have ever had in the shop. It’s so small (I’m 6’2″ and it’s still comfortable) and really urges you to throw it about.
The engine is quite happy plodding about at 2000 rpm but will really reward you when it opens up. A mega exciting ride and it gets SO much attention when you’re out mainly thanks to that ZING from the exhaust.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
Just seeing it get SO much attention at the Bike Shed Show in London last month. It’s obviously a real nostalgia hit for a lot of people.
I’m really proud to be a part of it, but Tyga Performance need to take most of the credit for the amazing quality parts they produce and the insane shapes of the fairing kit.
• Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
Jap4 UK Ltd for supplying all the Tyga parts from UK stock.
Viper Racing UK for the engine build.
The Customer David for trusting us to build his dream bike!
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Web: www.nabspeed.co.uk
Instagram: @nabspeedmoto
