1974 B120 motorcycle presented as gift to Wheeltek by Suzuki
I’m always fascinated with the story of Wheeltek. Its founders, husband and wife, Rene and Tessie Odulio, are always proud to share their humble beginnings as a motorcycle dealer with only 3 Suzuki motorcycle units on display.
Now after 5 decades, Wheeltek has become one of the biggest motorcycle dealers in the country, with diversified businesses in the automotive, financing, hospitality and many more.
During Wheeltek’s 50th Anniversary celebrations that was recently held at Glorietta, Makati, Suzuki Motorcycles Philippines presented the company with one of the first few motorcycles it sold – a 1974 B120 motorcycle.
The Suzuki B120 is one of the OGs of pantra motorcycles. Pantra is a Filipino slang for pang-trabaho, which means something that is used for work. In other words, the B120 is the equivalent of the CT100, TMX, or AX4 that was popular for tricycle or business use back in the day.
According to Edelyn Yanilla, Marketing Communications Group Head of Suzuki Motorcycles Philippines, this motorcycle was one of the actual Suzuki B120 motorcycles that Wheeltek sold in 1974, which was traced and bought back from an owner in Bulacan.
Though still in pretty good shape considering that the motorcycle is already 50 years old, Suzuki commissioned a local restoration specialist to bring the B120 back to or as close as possible to its showroom beauty.
One of the challenges was that a lot of parts are no longer available, even in Suzuki’s inventory, considering that the B120 was already 5 decades old. But no worries, said Yanilla, as the restoration specialist was able to source or fabricate some of the components to complete the delicate restoration work.
The restoration work from a running condition Suzuki B120 with missing parts to a fully restored Suzuki B120 took 2 months to complete – just in time for Wheeltek’s 50th Anniversary celebrations.
Happy 50th Anniversary, Wheeltek!!
