Just west of the gates of Versailles lies the quiet town of Thoiry, France. It is an unlikely birthplace for high-octane agitators, yet it is exactly where Arnaud Cailly operates Le Cent Vingt Cinq (The 125). By day, Arnaud works as a physiotherapist, but his nights and weekends have always belonged to the cult of custom machinery. His obsession took a definitive turn in 2014 during a chance trip to Biarritz for the Wheels & Waves festival. Blown away by the raw, artistic collision of surf culture and experimental mechanics, he returned home and immediately tore down his Harley-Davidson Sportster.
Years of obsessive learning followed, but the catalyst for his workshop arrived during the pandemic. Confined to his garage, Arnaud resurrected two forgotten Honda CM125s, officially birthing Le Cent Vingt Cinq. The shop has since rolled out over fifty custom machines, winning the prestigious Backyard Project competition in 2023 with their ‘Baguette’ build, followed by the Moto Heroes prize for ‘Dune,’ a rugged Suzuki DR350 scrambler that we featured on Bike EXIF. Today, Arnaud runs the studio solo, focusing on modern, reliable, and street-legal machines that refuse to sacrifice an ounce of custom soul.
For his latest project, Arnaud along with his partner on the project, Cus'tom motorcycle, selected a donor that is usually associated with sun-drenched coastal boardwalks rather than aggressive street tracking: the Suzuki Vanvan 125 (also known as the RV125). In its factory clothing, the Vanvan is a delightfully quirky, retro-styled dual-purpose motorcycle. It relies on a bulletproof 124cc air-cooled single-cylinder engine that sends a modest 12 horsepower through a six-speed transmission. Tipping the scales at a featherweight of 120 kilograms, it boasts an ultra-accessible 770 mm seat height and easily achieves an efficient 90 to 100 MPG during urban commuting.
The Vanvan’s true signature has always been its oversized balloon tires. It is an inherently friendly, approachable motorcycle designed for casual exploration. It is certainly not the machine you expect to see looking for a fistfight at a street race.
Arnaud’s vision for the little Suzuki was a complete subversion of its polite, next-door-neighbor demeanor. He wanted to build a giant toy for his daily commute, preserving the bike's iconic fat-wheeled DNA while injecting it with a dose of mechanical attitude. The result is a machine that looks as though the stock Suzuki went on a brutal, Rocky Balboa-style training montage and emerged as a lean, aggressive street predator. This radical transformation immediately caught the attention of the European custom scene, with the bike making high-profile appearances at both the Bike Shed Show 2026 and Wheels and Waves 2026.
The idea was simple," Arnaud says. "I wanted to build a big toy that I could ride every day. I’ve always loved the laid-back vibe of the VanVan, especially those oversized wheels, so I kept that DNA at the core of the project."
The first thing that commands your attention is the bike's unapologetic, steamroller footprint. Arnaud retained the 14-inch wheels but wrapped them in aggressive Dunlop K180 tires measuring just over seven inches wide. This massive rubber dominates the bike's silhouette, providing enough float to skim across soft beach sand while offering a relentless aesthetic on the pavement.
To back up the bike's muscular new stance, Arnaud threw out the spindly factory front end entirely and retrofitted a set of inverted front forks sourced from an Aprilia RSV4 superbike. To slow down the newly aggressive lightweight, the front end was equipped with a premium Beringer braking system, while the traditional stock drum brake was retained at the rear to preserve a hint of vintage mechanical honesty. The motorcycle's face is highlighted by a custom headlight assembly. Arnaud cut ‘Track-T’, the motorcycle's name, into a yellow plexiglass panel, creating an integrated number plate that looks ready to line up on a short-track oval at events like Flat Out Friday.
The 124cc single-cylinder motor was given a matching performance-inspired upgrade. Arnaud fabricated a custom exhaust system that snakes tightly across the engine casing before sweeping upward to terminate directly beneath the tail section in a SuperTrapp Racing muffler. To clean up the center of the chassis and give the bike much-needed negative space, the bulky factory airbox was entirely discarded. The stock carburetor now draws air through an exposed pod filter mounted to a custom intake manifold that exits out of the rear-left side of the machine, a practical modification that makes filter cleaning effortless after a dusty day of riding.
The ergonomics and bodywork received an equally thorough streamlining. While Arnaud chose to retain the iconic shape of the original Suzuki fuel tank, he binned the stock, sofa-like dual seat. In its place, he heavily modified a slender, tracker-style saddle sourced from a YCF pit bike, tailoring it to flow seamlessly with the revised rear frame rails and modified monoshock swingarm.
The final paint scheme is a vibrant homage to Southern California and Venice Beach race culture. The livery features a coarse silver metallic flake base covered in a yellow candy topcoat. The eye-catching tank graphics are accented by classic racing checkered flags and genuine silver leaf detailing meticulously hand-turned. Pushing out a modest top speed of 85 km/h, it is a build that prioritizes smiles over statistics. Arnaud rides it daily, proving that you don't need triple-digit horsepower to rule the urban grid when your machine possesses this much undeniable soul.
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