This Stunning, Award-Winning Triumph Motorcycle Demands a Closer Look

As much as riding motorcycles is about the places you explore and the people you meet, there’s no denying that personalization is central to the culture. Triumph knows this better than most brands — it holds a worldwide competition each year to celebrate custom bike builders.

In fact, Triumph just announced the overall winner for 2025. In a very tightly contested competition, an entry from Brazil beat out four other finalists to secure the public vote and the judge’s vote for the most original custom Triumph Bonneville build of the year.

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Triumph(ant) competitor

This year’s Triumph Originals started with eight entrants from around the world. However, after a panel of judges whittled it down to five finalists, it was left up to fans to help choose the winner.

It really should come as no surprise that this dark and moody Brazilian café racer — dubbed ‘Gaijin’ — ended up taking top honors. The São Paulo-based Shibuya Garage team knocked it out of the park with the truncated seat design, under-tail exhaust and sculpted tank.

Triumph

As the judges described the bike in their closing remarks: “This was the most original and coherent of the builds. It has a presence that is muscular and athletic combined with a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail.”

Indeed, between aggressive design elements like the tread of the tires and subtle refinements such as the scalloped details, it’s a Bonneville that’s both imposing and also packed with staying power.  

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Speedy starting point

In transforming a stock Triumph into the custom you see before you, Shibuya wanted to build a bike that conveyed the feeling of speed and motion even when static. As such, the choice to start with a Speed Twin 1200 was no accident.

From the factory, even the base 1200 model makes for the most powerful version of the Bonneville in the Triumph lineup, rated at 103.5 horsepower and 83 lb-ft of torque. For perspective, a top-of-the-line Bonneville T120 tops out at 79 horsepower.

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What’s more, Triumph has given the Speed Twin 1200 a host of advanced electronic aids to help riders keep things rubber-side up. Along with selectable riding modes and Optimized Cornering ABS, the 1200 also includes traction control as well as an up-and-down quickshifter.

All that is to say, Gaijin is a bike that looks the part of a classic custom while delivering modern practicality. The judges nailed it when they stated that, “a custom build should be instantly desirable but also be something you want to be seen riding. This bike is both.”

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Build your own

Though this particular Triumph custom was a one-off example, you could always attempt customizing a Speed Twin 1200 for yourself. (Or you could reach out to Shibuya Garage for a similar build.)

If you’d like to learn more about the Triumph range, you can check out the Speed Twin 1200 and the Speed Twin 1200 RS here. MSRP starts at $13,795 and $16,195, respectively.

Triumph

2025 Triumph Speed Twin 1200

• Starts at $13,795

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