The 2014 Suzuki VanVan 125 - Retro Look Quirky Coolness
The Suzuki VanVan 125 or RV125 is an retro-styled on-/off-road motorcycle with chunky tires, capable of cruising busy city roads and still capable or ride rough terrain, or even soft sand beaches. The first look, design-wise, the Suzuki VanVan 125 evokes minimalism – a simple round headlamp, a dated-looking fuel tank, flat seat, simple luggage rack behind the seat, and a high-mounted exhaust reminiscent of a '70s dirt-bike. No doubt, this looks isn't going o win best-of-show, but there is a sort of a quirky-coolness about the Suzuki VanVan 125. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it.
The Suzuki VanVan 125 as we see it today was in the mid '70s developed, and reintroduced in the Japanese market in 2003. Currently the 2014 Suzuki VanVan 125 is equipped with a state of the art electronic fuel injection system and all the modern goodies. The 125cc engine together with the 6-speed gearbox and excellent fueling gives the Suzuki VanVan 125 performance you would not expect from a 125cc engine.
Looking at the Suzuki VanVan 125 close up, fit and finish is pretty good, what else would you expect from a motorcycle made in Japan. The ride is above reproach with the long travel suspension and tall profile tires absorb speed-breakers and bumps at full throttle with nary a care. The wide handlebar make the Suzuki VanVan 125 easy to manoeuvre and the front disc, rear drum set-up is reassuringly adept at retardation. It's the sort of motorcycle that could embarrass sportier machines when the going gets rough, which is quite a lot of places.
The Suzuki VanVan 125 is a surefire recipe for fun. Push your imagination and the everyday road turns into a course, your everyday pothole and speed-breaker into a set of obstacles. Just stand of the footpegs, gas it up and the VanVan 125 traverses bumps without a hitch, and landings are stable too. The Suzuki VanVan 125 also took the twisty-roads in its stride, the on/off-road tires providing good grip and prompting enthusiastic cornering. That said, corner speeds never get scary thanks to the anemic engine. On dirt roads, the Suzuki VanVan 125 behaves exceptionally. The combination of light weight, fat block-tread tires, low-end grunt from the engine and high ground clearance allows the motorcycle to crawl up rocks with surprising ease.
The Suzuki VanVan 125 does seem like a viable, fun alternative motorcycle. It is comfortable, handles well and brakes are good. With the 125cc engine you probably not set any speed records, the maximum speed is around 100km/h (with test rider 90kg), the Suzuki VanVan 125 has the potential to take you places and beyond. And it has that quirky coolness going for it.
