Honda’s reputation for building bulletproof inline-fours wasn’t earned overnight; it was forged through decades of innovation and performance. From the 1969 CB750 that rewrote motorcycling’s rulebook to the CB900F that defined cool in the early ’80s, Big Red’s big fours have always carried a certain swagger. Now, after months of teasing and speculation, Honda has finally lifted the covers off the all-new CB1000F, a motorcycle that looks back fondly at the past while delivering all of the benefits of today, and it's got the 'Fast Freddie' Spencer looks for plenty of old school cool.

At first glance, the new CB1000F could’ve rolled straight out of 1983, with angular lines, a round headlight, twin horns, bold graphics, and all. But get closer, and you’ll see the crisp LED lighting, a TFT dash, and a sculpted stance that’s all the modern rage. It’s that perfect middle ground Honda’s been nailing lately: retro without cosplay, modern without the techno-overload. The design team call it a “modern classic,” but really, it’s just the sort of bike we’ve been waiting for, a clean, muscular, analogue-feeling machine with enough digital smarts to make your ride effortless.

Rome isn’t exactly short on history, but for one weekend each year, the past and future of motorcycling collide beneath the sinuous steel and glass curves of Massimiliano Fuksas’ “La Nuvola.” Now in its ninth edition, the Eternal City Motorcycle Show has cemented itself as one of Europe’s essential two-wheeled gatherings, and to their credit, the organisers clearly understand just how vital custom creations have become to the motorcycle world. This year, they dedicated an entire level of the venue to that culture: a space where Italian craftsmanship, international innovation, and pure mechanical art all share the same stage.

The show is a mega event, with every major manufacturer worth their salt in attendance, eighteen of whom offer free demo rides of their latest machinery. In total, there are 300 different models you can ride, adding a proper try-before-you-buy experience. There are also the usual displays, great food and drink, live music and talks. And for those in the game, the business-to-business day allows small shops the chance to rub shoulders with the big brass of leading aftermarket suppliers, a vital networking opportunity to help the entire industry thrive.

Tucked away in the vibrant streets of Lisbon, Unik Motorcycles isn’t just another shop bolting shiny bits onto tired bikes; they’re the real deal, the kind of crew that bleeds petrol and welds soul into steel. Founders Tiago and Luis have built a reputation for turning everyday rides into rolling works of art, handling everything from tune-ups to full-tilt customs with the same level of obsession. And when it came time to tame Honda’s six-cylinder heavyweight, the legendary CBX 1000, they knew this wasn’t just another project. it was a chance to let a mechanical symphony loose. The result? “Tatsumaki,” a 1982 CBX that howls like a hurricane and looks every bit as sharp.

The last six-banger we featured from the boys at Unik was so good, it lit a fire under the internets' worn feet, and caused the sort of excitement that saw the bike take out the top spot in our 2023 Bike of the Year Awards. Tiago and Luis know it's not every day you get to spin the spanners on a big six, and when it comes time to give one a full-on custom make-over, then it is essential to highlight its thunderous beating heart. In recent years, the guys have been getting the recognition they deserve, working with MotoGP star Miguel Oliveira, appearing on the popular TV show 'Ride With Norman Reedus', and seeing their business boom.

There are two kinds of motorcycles in this world: the ones you buy to pamper, and the ones you buy to ride until they hate you. For Ales Tomis of Earth Motorcycles, his ’94 Honda Dominator NX650 was firmly in the second camp. It carried him for four years, through countless roads and a monster 8,000-plus kilometre trip to Iraq in 2024. By the time he limped it home, overheating, vibrating like a cheap motel bed and wheezing its way behind a friend’s Desert X, Ales knew the truth. “After a near-fatal engine failure in Turkey, I said to my bike: now it is your time to retire.” But in Earth Motorcycles’ language, 'retire' doesn’t mean a quiet life. It means reincarnation.

The original plan was modest: keep it close to stock, maybe a low-end scrambler with the original wheels, tank and air intake. But as any builder will tell you, plans have a funny way of being scrapped at the first spark of an angle grinder. The Dominator’s 21-inch front wheel was the first casualty. Ales swapped it for an 18-inch Moose Racing rim, paired with an Excel 17-inch rear, stainless spokes and a tubeless Pirelli MT combo. “I thought I’d keep it simple, but it just snowballed,” he admits.

Take one of the world’s most popular middleweight nakeds, strip it back to its bones, and then rebuild it with enough CNC wizardry and 3D-printed trickery to make even Honda blush! That’s exactly what the brothers, Filippo and Giacomo Tagliabue, at Italy's FTG Moto have done with this classic Honda Hornet 600. The goal was never to disguise the iconic aspects of the Hornet, but rather to enhance every aspect of the bike with high-end techniques. Dubbed 'Athena', it’s a sharp-tailed, HRC-liveried streetfighter that proves even a mass-produced commuter can rise again as a one-off goddess. And like the mythical namesake, this Hornet isn’t here to whisper; it’s here to make itself heard.

Based in the industrial and economic powerhouse that is the city of Milan, FTG Moto have always been innovators in the custom motorcycle scene. Their creations are like no other; they don't play by the rules, and the brothers Tagliabue were early adopters of new technologies to help give them an upper hand. But they don't rely exclusively on CNC machines, CAD software and 3D printing, they're just as adept with a grinder or basic hand tool, and the idea behind this build of the iconic Honda Hornet was to combine all of their skills.

When a customer sends you a bike halfway across the country, you know the pressure is on. For Spencer Parr of Parr Motorcycles in Indiana, that pressure came wrapped in the form of a tired old 2002 Honda XR650R shipped from Texas. The brief was simple: take Big Red’s desert dominator and turn it into a road-going big bore scrambler, better, sharper, and more refined than his already legendary first XR680R build. Version 2.0 was born, and according to Spencer, it’s his favourite bike to date.

The foundation for this project was laid a few years back, when Spencer’s own 680R scrambler hit social media and turned heads. Word spread fast, and before long, another customer wanted their own take on the big thumper. The donor bike wasn’t showroom fresh, more “sat in a garage a little too long”, but that didn’t matter. Everything non-essential was stripped and stored, leaving only a blank canvas ready to be reimagined.

Some builders work from a brief. Others from a napkin sketch. But when this 2021 Honda XR650L rolled into the workshop with just one instruction, “build something cool”, it set the stage for something far more exciting: full creative freedom. And what you’re looking at is the result of that rare opportunity. A brutal and beautiful supermoto that borrows from the past, charges into the future, and flies the colours of one of the greatest racing liveries of all time. The master chef mixing up all the ingredients is, of course, Spencer, from Indiana's Parr Motorcycles and his take on a Rothmans Honda is as cool as they come. 

The build started with a single vision: a street-legal dirt weapon inspired by the iconic Honda Rothmans NSR500, a bike that still gives race fans goosebumps decades later. With that, the plan was set. It was always going to be a supermoto. And it was always going to wear those colours. From there, the teardown began. Anything unnecessary was stripped and shelved. The first item on the fabrication list? A brand-new subframe. The old one got the chop, and in its place came a sleek new unit built off the original mounts, with gentle curves in the support arms to give it a unique stance. An electronics box was fabbed and welded in, laying the foundation for clean wiring and an even cleaner silhouette.

For the sixth consecutive year, Europe's largest single make biking building competition touched down at the Wheels and Waves festival in Biarritz, France, where the top machines from the Honda Customs contest assembled. For 2025, Honda Europe chose to give their dealers the single-cylinder, retro-inspired GB350S as the base, and then let each team go crazy. As always, the design choices are an incredibly eclectic mix, and with more teams taking part this year than ever before, only the finalists made the journey to Wheels and Waves. But you don't have to have attended the French Festival to help decide the winner, with voting now open at HondaCustoms.com. The number of people logging on and getting involved has exploded year on year, and here are your finalists, the coolest Custom Honda GB350S' from Europe's Honda dealers.

A love letter from the Honda Motor Center Leon dealership to the classic cafe racers of a time gone by, The Rocket Lion embodies Hondas renowned build quality, attention to detail and smart touches from the company's long history. The Rocket Lion utilises a modified RC181 fairing and screen up front, paired with a custom rear cowling for a unique side profile and silhouette. The cowling works in conjunction with a custom seat, itself shaped to give the bike the riding position of an old school GP bike. Michelin Road Classic tyres, titanium hardware throughout, and an official Honda colour paired with a patina-riddled oversized logo all form part of extensive specification list.

When it comes to events that truly capture what the custom motorcycle culture is all about, few do it better than the folks behind The One Motorcycle Show. Spearheaded by local legend Thor Drake, the four-day extravaganza takes place at the incredible Zidell Yards on Portland's waterfront. The old abandoned facility sets the stage for a gritty, down-to-earth vibe, where 'built not bought' and bikers with grease under their fingernails are all just part of the atmosphere. This year was the 16th edition of the show and featured 300 custom bikes on display, as well as a host of kick-ass bands, tasty beer to drink as well as group rides and after-parties to enjoy. So, sit back, relax and take in these stunning shots of all of our favourites from what Thor calls 'The Best Show on Earth'.

The One Show just seems to get bigger and better each year, and a huge part of that can be put down to the community-like vibe that washes over Portland for the event. Thousands make the pilgrimage on two wheels from near and far, and instantly it's time to catch up with old friends and see who is riding what. The first day is made up of the Thursday Night MX at the nearby Portland International Raceway and then it's off to a local cinema for the opening of the VAHNA Film Festival, a film competition and festival tour dedicated to the art of motorcycle cinematography.

It's show season in Japan, and the latest event to draw a major crowd was last month's 2025 JOINTS Custom Bike Show held at Port Messe, Nagoya. The sheer number of custom bikes on display was out of this world and proves once again that the V-Twin/Harley-Davidson scene is showing no sign of slowing down in The Land of the Rising Sun. But among the endless rows of choppers was a bike that instantly drew our attention and comes from a custom workshop that has been like a trade school for some of the country's best builders. Run by legendary figure Fumihiko Ueda, A Beard located in Hatsukaichi City has a mighty reputation and to give the Hogs a run for their money, they rolled into the show this Hot Rod Honda CB750 to add some cafe racer cool to the big event.

Located in an automotive precinct of the city, A Beard sits behind a major motorcycle dealership and prefers to see most of the foot traffic head inside the front door and check out all of the new bikes. But if you head down the back lane and find the three faded blue roller doors, you've arrived at a very special location. So many of the country's best builders have done their apprenticeships at major dealers, and some of the biggest names ventured out the back to continue their higher education under the tutelage of Ueda-san, a man with more than four decades in the game.