A green CB750 Hornet from Portugal has claimed the top prize at Honda Customs 2026. Built by dealer Mototrofa and named Mugen, the streetfighter topped the Battle of the Twins public vote with 10,092 votes. That total is almost a quarter of a record 42,119 cast, making Mototrofa the competition’s second-ever two-time winner.
What is the Battle of the Twins?
This year’s Honda Customs took a fresh format. Ten European builders were each given a current Honda twin to reinterpret, then set against each other in an On Road versus Off Road showdown. The road entries were built on the CB750 Hornet, the off-road entries on the XL750 Transalp, both powered by Honda’s 750cc twin.
The ten machines were revealed at the Wheels and Waves festival in Biarritz, before voting opened online. Enthusiasts in 102 countries took part over the summer, pushing the final tally 39% higher than in 2025. For the first time, the builds were also assessed by the original designers of the Hornet and Transalp from Honda’s R&D centre in Rome.
Meet Mugen, the winning Hornet
Mugen is a CB750 Hornet custom finished in deep forest green, with gold and carbon-fibre detailing and an aggressive streetfighter stance. Mototrofa built it under a single guiding idea: form should follow function, not the other way round.
The team describe the paintwork as the hardest part to get right. Rather than chase the loudest scheme in the field, they chose restraint, refining the colours and graphics until the proportions felt balanced. It was a gamble that paid off, giving the bike a presence that sets it apart from flashier rivals.
Underneath the paint sits a long list of custom work. A carbon-fibre aerodynamic appendage was designed and made from scratch to sit below the main headlight. There are suspension modifications, a redesigned tail section, and a repositioned instrument cluster, each chosen to serve the overall concept. Despite the changes, the bike is still unmistakably a Hornet, which is exactly what Mototrofa wanted.
The whole project came together in six weeks, a pace the team credit to their 2021 winner, the Fenix.
“This victory carries a strong personal significance for all the people in Mototrofa,” says Paulo Ferreira, creative director of the Mugen project. He points to the team behind it, and the hours of discussion and detail work that every build demands.
A second crown for Mototrofa
The win puts Mototrofa in rare company. The Portuguese dealer first took the title in 2021 with the Fenix, a reworked CB650R. That victory, now matched by Mugen, makes it one of only two two-time winners in the contest’s seven-year history, alongside Italy’s Motocicli Audaci.
Mototrofa are already looking ahead. Asked about a dream starting point from Honda’s current range, the team nominated the retro-styled CB1000F, keen to try something different from both Mugen and the Fenix.
How the rest of the field finished
Mugen led an On Road category that drew more than two-thirds of all votes. Spain’s Last Lap, a Hornet styled like a 1980s GP racer, came second with more than 6,900 votes, while Poland’s Sting Honey took third.
The Off Road honours went to Saharja, a Dakar-inspired XL750 Transalp built by Italy’s DRS Custom Cycles, with more than 4,800 votes. British interest came from CJ Ball’s ’86 Dakar Tribute, a Transalp honouring Honda’s 1986 rally-winning NXR750, which finished second in its category.
Ride the Hornet behind the winner
Every build this year started life as a bike you can buy today. The CB750 Hornet that underpins Mugen is a current model, and you can explore the Honda CB motorcycle range at Vertu to see it in standard form.
If you’d like to talk it over, our colleagues can help you find the right bike from the Honda motorcycle range at Vertu. Book an appointment at your nearest Vertu Honda dealership to get started.
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