The Honda Rebel is a popular choice when choosing a base for a custom motorcycle. The selection Honda is taking to Biarritz on the French Basque coast is a demonstration of the bike’s versatility when it comes to customising it.
Whether you’re looking for a cruiser look, a flat tracker, or a neo-retro bagger, the 10 Rebels that will be attending the Wheels and Waves festival in Biarritz with Honda this week between 29 June and 3 July are proof that both the 500 and 1100 Rebel is a capable foundation for your custom project.
The bikes come from the UK, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, are available to view online now, as well as physically in Biarritz, and the most popular of the 10 Rebels will be announced in August.
Motoveiga
Firstly, we have Motoveiga from Braga, Portugal. This is a CMX500 Rebel which has taken inspiration from 1500s Spanish armour, as well as Florentine lilies. It features a hand-painted tank, headlight surround and clutch cover; as well as a Vance and Hines muffler and leather seat.
Lucy
Remaining in Portugal, we have Lucy. Painted gold and white, Lucy is designed to illustrate the Portuguese sunshine, according to Honda. Lucy also features a handcrafted Rebel logo on the tank, as well as white-walled tyres, gold wheels and takes its inspiration from the CB175 of the 1960s and 1970s. Like Motoveiga, Lucy has a Vance and Hines muffler, as well as upgraded rear suspension and and new grills for the radiator.
5Four Honda Rebel Street
5Four Honda Rebel Street is next up and built by Guy Willison, who is already adept at customising Hondas after creating custom versions of the CB1100RS and CB1000R. For 5Four, Willison takes a CMX500 and adds a paint scheme of ivory and candy red from Pro Kustom. The Brazilian hardwood grips, racing tailpiece and polished undertray are examples of the handcrafted pieces on this custom, flat track-inspired Rebel. Completing the dirt tracker look, Willison adds high/low rally-style headlights, stainless steel number boards and a unique, titanium Racefit Urban Growler exhaust.
Mannboard
Sardegna is known for its sandy tracks. The Riola Sardo circuit is known as one of the toughest in Europe, and when the World Rally Championship visits the Italian island its relatively soft gravel creates some of the deepest conditions on the European rallies.
In the 1930s, Sardegna had a tradition of sand racing, and it is from those bikes that Motocicli Audaci find their inspiration for Mannboard. Mannboard features rebuilt front suspension, 19-inch wire wheels and a full stainless steel exhaust system which itself is completed by a muffler from SC-Project. The tail is also custom, as is the candy and gold leaf paint. Handlebar risers and a new leather seat finish the Mannboard custom.
Akaimoto
Akaimoto is a dealer in Spain who, like the aforementioned Willison, are accustomed to building custom Hondas. A CB1000R and CB650R are two of the projects that have preceded Akaimoto’s- well, their new Rebel custom is called the Akaimoto, which is sort of like Ferrari naming their Ferrari Enzo Ferrari in the mid-2000s. Anyway, Akaimoto takes its inspiration from Honda’s Neo Sports Cafe range, with custom bodywork, a higher fuel tank, clip-on bars, a unique short muffler, and an undercowl from Kalex.
Mikuniguro
Mikuniguro takes us from Barcelona to Madrid, is built by Ikono Motorbike “in partnership with Nomade Cycle and Dave Design (who do the helmet paint for HRC’s MotoGP riders Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez) painting studios,” according to Honda, and is named after the horse of General Samurai Honda Tadakatsu. Japanese legend has it that the General’s horse was never injured in battle, and, certainly, after putting the effort into creating this custom CMX500 it would be brutally disappointing to see it hurt.
Mikuniguro is inspired by the “Honda D-Type, brat style and the Japanese Bobber trend,” says Honda. Vance and Hines are back with the muffler for this Spanish-Japanese creation, while both the front and rear suspension is upgraded. Also at the rear is a micro-LED tail light, and the bike also features handlebar risers.
Mallorca Motos
Now we move from Madrid to Mallorca, where we find the distinctive green paint of Mallorca Moto’s CMX1100. This neo-retro features the muffler from a CB300R, underslung round mirror, fork gaiters, an under-seat tail light, a forward-biassed riding position, and the seat is stitched with diamonds.
The Sport
Moving now to France and we find The Sport from FCR Original. Unsurprisingly, this is designed to be a more sporty custom Rebel, with the 17-inch rear wheel from a CB500F, tyres from Dunlop, dual Ohlins rear shocks, and oversized bars. The speedometer has also been moved to the top yoke,and the scratch-built front mudguard is 25mm lower than on the original.
The Bobber
FCR Original also has The Bobber, which is unsurprisingly (again) a bobber-inspired design on a CMX1100 base. This time, the suspension and swingarm are stock, but the ride height is 25mm lower at the front, the tyres come from Bridgestone and the black wheels are custom-made.
Finally, we have a third entry from FCR Original, this time called Honda CMX Rebel Waves. “FCR has revisited all the original lines of the CMX500 giving it a whole new purposeful identity,” Honda says. “Taking their inspiration from the feeling of the Wheels and Waves festival and the Californian spirit, they have left the engine stock, but have made changes to the rear suspension, the bars, indicators, front mudguard, exhaust, tank and rear luggage rack.”
