The Wheels and Waves show is an annual custom bike show held in Biarritz in southern France and it brings together not only a load of cool new custom bikes but also some of the world’s best bike modifiers in the business.
In recent years, the attraction of the show has not gone unnoticed by the major manufacturers with the likes of BMW, Royal Enfield and Brough Superior building bikes specifically for the show.
Honda has now gone and beaten them all in terms of sheer numbers, with no fewer than a full dozen versions of the CB1000R built by different custom builders and shown for the first time at Wheels and Waves.
Honda is making a big deal of the Neo Sports Café range – of which the CB1000R sits at the top of the tree – and they’ve called in custom builders from Spain, Italy, Switzerland and France to create bespoke bikes. Here are the highlights:
The Africa Four CRF1000F
The Africa Four CRF1000R is the most radical of the bunch and has managed to meld the Honda CB1000R engine, chassis, fuel tank and wheels with parts like the front suspension, front brake disc and brake caliper lifted from the Africa Twin CRF450R motocross bike.
The exhaust is a bespoke build with a stubby carbon end can along with a custom-built seat unit designed to work with the original seat and a new headlight and front mudguard.
The CB1000R Dirt Endurance
This modified Honda CB1000R is a hybrid version of a 1970s endurance racing bike with a dirt bike and is the work of VC Moto from Spain.
The new fairing is a completely bespoke design and has the number 48 in Japanese on the seat cowl to honour the foundation of the Honda Motor Company in 1948.
The CB1000R-adical
Sporting a hand-painted urban camouflage paintscheme, this bike is the work of Gannet Design and Fuhrer Moto of Switzerland and is one of the most focussed of the dozen bikes shown at Wheels and Waves.
Shedding weight is at the heart of the idea behind the CB1000R-adical and that includes the fitment of custom-built Rotobox carbon fibre wheels and Ultralight CeraCarbon racing front fork and custom sprockets.
Add in the lightweight titanium Akrapovic end can and the savings are substantial over the standard bike.
Honda Limited Edition CB1000R
Of all the bikes shown at Wheels and Waves by Honda, the Limited Edition CB1000R is the only one that’s actually going to be available to buy in any number as Honda France, Spain, Germany and Italy will be selling 350 units.
Mechanical changes are limited to an SC-Project exhaust along with some SC-Project carbon fibre parts, but the most attention-grabbing element is the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) paintscheme which has the red/white and blue colours.
