![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-7-1024x456.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The SEMA Battle of the Builders is expanding beyond four wheels in 2026, giving custom motorcycle builders their own opportunity to compete on one of the biggest stages in the automotive aftermarket.<\/p>\n
SEMA has opened entries for the 2026 Battle of the Builders presented by Mothers, which will introduce a new Motorcycle category and the inaugural **SEMA Battle of the Builders: Bike Builder Shootout**. The new competition is designed to recognize the craftsmanship, creativity, and engineering that goes into some of the country’s most impressive custom motorcycles.<\/p>\n
The Bike Builder Shootout will feature custom bikes from builders across the country, with entries judged by a panel of motorcycle-industry veterans. This year’s judges include Zach Ness of Arlen Ness Motorcycles, Jeff Holt of V-Twin Visionary, and Pat Patterson of Led Sled Customs.<\/p>\n
After reviewing the entries, the judges will select 10 finalists. Those builders will then help determine the Top 3 category winners before selecting the overall Bike Builder Shootout champion. The format puts the competition in the hands of builders and industry experts who understand what it takes to turn a motorcycle into a standout custom machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cMotorcycles have always been a vital part of the customization community,\u201d said SEMA Vice President of Marketing RJ de Vera. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to officially bring these builders into the SEMA Battle of the Builders spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Motorcycle category joins the four existing automotive classes: Hot Rod & Hot Rod Truck; 4 Wheel Drive & Off-Road; Sport Compact, Import Performance, Luxury & Exotic; and BFGoodrich Young Guns. The automotive finalists will continue to compete separately for their own overall Battle of the Builders title.<\/p>\n
The addition of motorcycles also reflects SEMA’s continued push to expand its powersports presence. With custom motorcycles becoming an increasingly visible part of the specialty-equipment scene, the Bike Builder Shootout gives builders another reason to bring their best machines to Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The 2026 SEMA Battle of the Builders will take place during the SEMA Show, November 3-6, in Las Vegas. Both the new motorcycle competition and the automotive Battle of the Builders will be on display in Central Hall, giving attendees a chance to see some of the year’s most ambitious builds.<\/p>\n
Motorcycle builders interested in entering the competition can find details at [SEMA Battle of the Builders](https:\/\/www.semabotb.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com). The 2026 SEMA Show runs November 3-6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The SEMA Battle of the Builders is expanding beyond four wheels in 2026, giving custom motorcycle builders their own opportunity to compete on one of the biggest stages in the automotive aftermarket.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":107034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3470],"tags":[13491,13496,13499,13503,13493,13500,13502,13494,13497,13175,8602,13490,13501,13492,13498,13495,12732],"class_list":["post-107033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bike-builder-shootout","tag-custom-bike-builders","tag-custom-bike-competition","tag-custom-motorcycle-competition","tag-custom-motorcycles","tag-mothers-battle-of-the-builders","tag-motorcycle-aftermarket","tag-motorcycle-builds","tag-motorcycle-customization","tag-powersports","tag-sema-battle-of-the-builders","tag-sema-battle-of-the-builders-2026","tag-sema-battle-of-the-builders-presented-by-mothers","tag-sema-motorcycle-builders","tag-sema-motorcycles","tag-sema-show-2026","tag-sema-show-las-vegas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-7-e1786580914237.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-rQl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107035,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107033\/revisions\/107035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}