Dream Wheels Heritage – Weary Rider

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
Customizing bikes is all about seeing potential. Case in point: this cute little ’92 Suzuki GN250 from Portugal’s Dream Wheels Heritage.

Back in the day, the GN was the go-to bike for riding schools and the Portuguese postal service. But this one’s been resurrected as a neat-n-tidy café racer, for delivering smiles around the island of Madeira.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
Dream Wheels’ client specifically wanted a bike with a traditional café look—but it’s the impeccable execution that has us sold.

Take a look at the beautifully matched upper bodywork, for example. The tank has been adapted from a Sachs Lotus Special V5—a 50cc Portuguese bike made in the 80s.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
The seat hump is actually a removable hand-made cover, with passenger accommodations below. It’s perched on a custom-made subframe, with a discreet LED taillight built into the seat pan.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
The front fender and rear license plate bracket are hand-made, as is the new battery box. There’s a new gel battery in there too. For the exhaust, Dream Wheels combined two EMGO mufflers—connected to the headers via a one-off branch.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
The GN250’s also had a serious under-the-hood refresh. The engine’s been rebuilt from the ground up, and treated to a fresh coat of paint. Smaller items—like the brake lines and fork boots—have all been replaced.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
There’s a set of Showa shocks out the back, taken off a Honda CB750. The front forks have been dropped a little to adjust the stance, and the 18” front and 16” rear wheels are running Avon Safety Mileage MKII tires.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
Up front is a set of clubman bars, kitted with Biltwell Inc. Kung Fu grips. The headlight is classically styled, but LED-equipped. There’s a new mini-speedo too—wrapped in leather, with a vintage Portuguese escudo coin embedded in the side for luck.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
It’s a timeless aesthetic, finished off in an equally timeless color. Dream Wheels picked Mini Copper Hot Chocolate for the paint reference. It’s been done in a matte finish with gold touches—including the owner’s luck number, 19.

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
“We see a lot of custom bikes with this base,” Dream Wheels’ Hélder Moura tells us. “It is cheaper, and has simple mechanics.”

“But we think that we improved it, and moved it to another level.”

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.
From forgotten delivery bike to perfect Mediterranean runabout… sounds like a pretty big improvement to us.

Dream Wheels Heritage | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Victor Carvalho and CRIA

Delivering Smiles: An ex-postal service Suzuki reborn as a funky cafe racer.

Nuno Capêlo is one of those renaissance guys who have way too much talent. He’s an architect-turned-bike-designer, who can sketch out sharp-looking concepts ready to be turned into metal.

Nuno’s CV includes Portugal’s best builders—including it roCkS!bikes and Ton-Up Garage. And now he can add this very funky custom scrambler to the list.

It’s a collaboration with Dream Wheels Heritage, and based on a 1989 Honda Dominator. After a little brainstorming, the guys decided that the bike should be a nod to 70s-era Hondas—referencing bikes like the TL250 and CL450. Nuno would create the design, and Dream Wheels would execute it.

“We wanted to give to this build a retro scrambler look,” says Dream Wheels’ Hélder Moura, “paying attention to functionality and more accurate lines, for a mix between the new and the old stuff.”

To recreate the TL250-esque line and paint scheme that Nuno laid down, Dream Wheels restored and fitted the fuel tank from a Portuguese-made Casal T-185 Trial. CL450 cues are found in the plump tuck-and-roll seat and the high, two-into-two exhausts. Both items were fabricated in-house.

Dream Wheels also built a new subframe, with a discreet under-seat tray to house a gel battery and electrical components. Nominal hand-made fenders were added at both ends, with a small LED tail light peeking out at the rear.

The headlight is an unusual feature—it’s an old car fog light, poking through a custom-made number board. Behind it is a Koso speedo, a set of fatbars from Dyna Racing and Domino grips.

The Dominator’s engine was stripped, rebuilt, repainted and set up. There’s a new transmission, and the airbox has been chucked for a K&N filter adorned with Dream Wheels’ logo.

Up front are a set of Yamaha YZ426 forks—rebuilt and setup for the bike. The stock wheels have been swapped for a pair of 17-inch spoked numbers, wrapped in Continental TKC80s, and the brake lines have been replaced.

It’s another home run for Dream Wheels, and one of the freshest Honda Dominators we’ve seen. Now if only we could get our hands on the keys.

Dream Wheels Heritage | Facebook | Nuno Capêlo