Slavo Danko’s one-man custom motorcycle shop has the most appropriate name in the biz: Free Spirit Motorcycles. He marches to the beat of his own drum, building bikes purely for the satisfaction of it, with no-one telling him what to do. Which explains why this Suzuki GN250 took almost four years to build, went through three different designs, and looks like nothing else out there.
Based in the small village of Zohor, just outside Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, Slavo works as a business strategist for a major advertising agency. But on Thursdays and Fridays he builds bikes, often aided by his son, Matú?.

?He helps me when he can, but he’s more like an opponent,? explains Slavo. ?Since FSM is just a one-man show, I need a buddy to give me a second opinion?and Matú? is a product designer, so his opinion is valuable. I need that tension and positive discomfort to push things forward.? Slavo certainly pushed things forward on this project. All that remains of the Suzuki GN250 is its engine, some of its frame, and the front forks, brake and wheel hub. Everything else was scalped from elsewhere, redesigned or built from scratch.

Getting the Suzuki’s stance right was high on the list, so Slavo started by sourcing a pair of 17? rims from a Suzuki DR-Z400 supermotard. He laced them up to the GN250’s front hub, and a rear disc brake hub from ?some Italian bike? that he had lying around in his workshop. The stainless steel spokes were custom made...