2008 AMA World Bike Building Championship Hall at Sturgis

AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building 2008 - Goldammer Wins Again
Sturgis, South Dakota, August 2008 - After three and a half days of competition at Sturgis Bike Week, the Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building came to a close. What began a year earlier with a series of 12 Affiliate shows, covering four continents and an estimated over 2,000 competitors, has culminated at the pinnacle of motorcycling's Holy Grail, Sturgis, South Dakota. This year's OWC has been held at Champions Hall in the heart of Sturgis, South Dakota. Since the opening of the hall on Sunday morning, thousands upon thousands of spectators have poured over the 68 motorcycles, which represent 13 different countries.

People from all walks of life, from local residents to industry insiders, to the builders themselves, have spent many hours studying various aspects of the bikes, which represent the highest level of motorcycle craftsmanship and fabrication in the world. The competition was divided into four different classes, Metric, Modified Harley-Davidson, Production, and the creme de la creme, the Freestyle Class.

The top 3 winners at the 2008 AMD World Championship from left: 3rd Tobias Guckl, 1st Roger Goldammer (red shirt), 2nd Chicara Nagata (black shirt).

The awards ceremony began promptly at 3:00 pm CST with master of ceremony Chris McGee keeping the packed hall of anxious competitors and spectators entertained. With each winner being announced the anticipation level grew and grew. Before getting to the class winners McGee announced the winners of the Partners Picks of Excellence. These were motorcycles selected by partners of the OWC, which they felt represented the best use of their parts.

With no time to wasted McGee jumped into the announcement of the overall winner of the Metric Class, Jim Giuffra of AFT Customs, located in Martell, California, with his entry Er Heard which only 3 weeks earlier had made its world premier in winning Best of Show at our LA Calendar Motorccyle Show Weeknd at the Queen Mary Event Park in CA. The day after the Calendar Show, we photographed the bike for the 2010 Iron & Lace Calendar.

2008 Metric World Champion: AFT Customs, Jim Giuffra, Martell CA, USA Bike: Er Hed

Next up was Lock Baker's entry from Eastern Fabrications in Branford, Connecticut, "White Line Nightmare", taking top honors in the Modified Harley-Davidson Class. Best Modified Harley-Davidson Prize: Eastern Fabrications, Lock Baker, Branford CT, USA, Bike: White Line Nightmare

For additional information on the AMD World Championship visit www.amdchampionship.com

Freestyle Class Winners:

1st Place "Goldmember" Roger Goldamme / Goldammer Cycle Works Kelowna, BC, Canada
2nd Place "StG Nautilus " Chicara Nagata / Hot-Dock Custom Cycles, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan
3rd Place "Seppster 2 Ice Racer" Tobias Guckel TGS Motorcycles Tittling / Rappenhof, Germany
4th Place The "Nickel Bike" JP Persitza Cook Customs Milwaukee, Wisconson, USA
5th Place "Open Mind" Andreas Bergerforth Hamminkel, Germany
6th Place "Speed Demon" Erick Martens Special Parts Supply Geertruidenberg, Netherlands
7th Place "Hammered" Jeff Kesse Independent Cycle East Hanover, PA USA
8th Place "Naga" Bertrand Dubet Odyssey Motorcycles Toulouse France
9th Place Steve Broyles Stevenson's Cycle Wayne, MI USA
10th Place "Hazel" Bryan Schimke TPJ Customs Lodi, CA USA

Return to Iron & Lace Garage Index

The AMD World Championship
The World Championship of Custom Bike Building was first staged at Custom Chrome's annual dealer show at their Morgan Hill, California, headquarters, in October 2004, where it attracted 48 competitors fielding 63 bikes.

The second annual Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building was staged at Advanstar's Big Twin West Dealer Expo in Las Vegas, November 2005. The support of both these organizations in assisting with the costs of staging the first two World Championships is gratefully acknowledged. The 2005 World Championship attracted 166 top-class entries, from 110 competitors, drawn from 14 countries and was, by common acclaim, the greatest custom bike show ever staged or seen anywhere.

In 2006 the Championship was hosted at Thunder Road, Sturgis, over August 5th to 7th. 100 bikes were entered by 77 competitors drawn from 11 countries, and the standard of entries was acknowledged to be even higher than that of 2005.

Last year saw a move to Champions Hall, our own purpose-built facility on Lazelle Street, and attracted 77 entries from 71 competitors, again from 11 countries, with a record 25 international entries. Continuing the trend of a raised standard of entries at each subsequent show, this year's competition was agreed by the competitors to be the toughest yet.

The 2008 Show saw 69 entries from 67 competitors as the industry endured a difficult economy.

Judging of the event is done by 'peer review', in that all competitors collectively decide the World Champion, together with a select VIP panel drawn from the press and aftermarket industry, all votes counting equally towards the final result.

The event features two initiatives - the World Championship Affiliate Program, in which the winners of associated shows around the world have expenses paid to compete in the World Championship, and the Partner Program which is explained more fully in 'Partner Program.doc' which has allowed the World Championship to become financially independent rather than dependent on a single sponsor.

Affilate shows whose winners competed this year were:

Bigtwin Bike Show & Expo, Rosmalen, Netherlands
Bike Expo, Padova, Italy
Canadian Championship of Bike Building, Regina, Saskachewan
Cool-Breaker, Yokohama, Japan
Custom Bike Show, Norrtelje, Sweden
European Championship of Custom Bike Building, Mainz, Germany
Llunatica, Benicassim, Spain
Rod 'n Custom Show, Budapest, Hungary

In addition, the winners of the Arneitz Custom Show at Faaker See, Austria, Gold Coast Bike Week in Australia, the Cologne Custom Championship at INTERMOT, Germany, the Irish Motorbike and Scooter Show in Dublin, the London International Custom Show in England, the Moscow Custom and Tunung Show in Russia and Moto Clube Faro Bike Show in Portugal will all compete in the 2009 World Championship.

www.amdchampionship.com

World Championship of Custom Bike Building
Tel: +44 1892 511516 (toll free from USA/Canada: 866 849 5704)
Email: neil@amdchampionship.com
Website: www.amdchampionship.com