The Turkish build called “Bunker Imprint” by Bunker Custom Cycles (@bunkercustomcycles) has been crowned the winner of the 2024 Honda Customs contest. In addition, this year it has surpassed the success of previous editions and has focused on the Honda CL500, a scrambler-style motorcycle with evocative design details from the front to the tail.
Developed around the guiding principle of “Express Yourself,” the Honda CL500 is an ideal foundation for the Honda Customs Contest, as it is an open invitation for customers (and professional customizers) to exercise their creativity, self-expression and individuality to the fullest.
2024 Honda Customs Winners Roundup
Bunker Imprint – Türkiye
With 9,383 votes (37% of a total of 25,558 received) on the official Honda Customs website, the Bunker Imprint featured a modern retro café racer look, taking a 180-degree turn from the CL’s scrambler roots. The Bunker team took the stock model and added a custom FDM 3D-printed fiberglass-reinforced nylon half fairing, new side covers, a clean belly pan with a faired exhaust, a new tail section, and a modified seat.
P2 Ocean’s Track – France
Competing hard in the voting process was the “Ocean’s Track” from France. Created by Oceane Motos (@Oceane_motos_official), the bike adopts American flat track styling mixed with a bit of stunt bike to create a striking visual effect. Key changes from the stock CL500 are the red frame and swingarm, gold rims, super-wide handlebars finished with mirrors at the ends, two offset LED projector headlights on the front number plate and a solo seat.
P3 CL Surfer – Germany
Completing the podium for the 2024 Honda Customs event is the “CL Surfer” from Germany, which was inspired by the beautiful beaches and surfer atmosphere of Biarritz (home of the Wheels and Waves festival). Created by the team at the Honda Centre flagship dealership in Frankfurt (@hondamotorrad_de), the CL Surfer captures the festival vibe with its metallic silver fuel tank and front and rear fenders (with a unique, personal blue stripe), plus two-piece handlebars, new exhaust and unique brown leather seat.
P4 Alpina 500 – Switzerland
Completing the top five positions for Honda Customs were the spectacular “Alpina 500”created by Meister Engineering (@meisterengineering) and the “Enduro 500” from the Stilmoto dealership in San Sebastian. Celebrating 50 years of Honda Switzerland, the Alpina 500 draws inspiration from Honda’s rich heritage, showcasing details such as the CB-style fuel tank, exposed subframe and minimalist bench seat.
P5 Enduro 500 – Spain
The “Enduro 500” It embodies the CL’s scrambler style very well and has been designed to strike a chord evoking memories of a golden era of motorcycling history. Featuring a dramatic paint scheme on the fuel tank, a raised front mudguard, a grilled headlight, bespoke number plates, various hand-made parts and an Arrow exhaust silencer, the Enduro 500 was the brainchild of San Sebastian-based dealer Stilmoto (@stilmotohonda).
The very different color palettes, design details and aesthetics of these five CLs are proof of the versatility of this platform as a basis for customization (and a clear manifestation of its development theme: “Express yourself.”
Bunker Customs is the fifth customizer to take home the Honda Customs title in Biarritz, joining:
- 2023: Art on Wheels from Portugal (@artonwheelsgarage), who created the Dax “Furiosa” in collaboration with Tamara Alves (@tamara_aalves)
- 2022: Motocicli Audaci of Italy, creators of the CMX500 Rebel Maanboard
- 2021: Mototrofa Dealership from Portugal, with the CB650R Fenix
- 2020: Brivemo Motos from Switzerland, who created the “Africa Four” version of the CB1000R
The victory at the Bunker Imprint Honda Customs in Turkey reflects the growing interest and demand in the motorcycle market in this country. In 2023, the Turkish market surpassed 530,000 units – a figure that equates to 38% of the 1.3 million sales recorded in the rest of Europe. This figure is based on exponential growth, almost tripling the market compared to the previous year (190,000 in 2022) and reaching almost four times the 2021 figure of 140,000.
Çetin KardesGeneral Manager of Honda Turkey Motorcycle Division, commented: “It is a real honour for us to have managed to win this award, which reflects our vision and goal of creating a unique and healthy motorcycle culture in Turkey. We will continue to work very hard to continue expanding the world of motorcycles in our society. I would like to extend my thanks to all those who have contributed to this success.”
