Oficina head honcho Mario customised the 2003 Van Van for his wife as a gift. The Van Van’s small stance, lightweight and manageable power make it the perfect beginners bike. Mario couldn’t leave the bike untouched though, his Oficina MRS ethos doesn’t allow him to limit his builds to simple “bolt-on” modifications, instead, he opts to create something unique with each new build.
The project started by stripping the stock fuel tank back to bare metal before a respray in deep ocean blue and the application a set of MRS decals prior to a coat or two of clear. A custom made brass gas cap with breather hose replaced the factory plastic unit and established the highlight colour for the Van Van build.
The frame received new gussets for extra strength prior to Mario custom mounting twin shocks in favour of the standard mono-shock system. With the twin shocks in place, the Van Van took on a retro off-road race look accentuated by the handmade, side-mounted alloy race plates. Mario also used aluminium to fabricate the front and rear fenders.
The stock 14 inch rear wheel was swapped out with an 18-inch rim to allow for the fitment of trails tyres. The twin shock set up added extra height clearance in the rear and some tweaking of the front end was done to set the ride height and balanced stance.
The wrapped one-off exhaust was bent out by Mario and a custom muffler fabricated with a brass end cap. To keep the bike appropriate for street use indicators have been mounted in the handlebar ends. Lastly, a custom, diamond-stitched seat was upholstered and mounted to the modified frame which has been finished in white powder coat.
I think it’s fair to say this is one “girl’s bike” any guy would be stoked to own.
