World and European Championship of Custom Bike Building

World Championship of Custom Bike Building 2008 - RESULTS

After three and a half days of competition the Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building has drawn to a close. What began over a year ago 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 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 waste 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 Hed.

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

It was now time for what everyone was waiting for, the announcement of the finishers in the Freestyle Class. For an unprecedented third time, Canadian Roger Goldammer got the top honors being named the World Champion and overall winner of the Freestyle Class. This is the third time in five years Roger has come out on top of the competition. Roger's entry for 2008 is the same bike that he competed with on the Bonneville Salt Flats in September of 2007, a single-cylinder, fuel-injected blown sport bike, with nitrous that achieved a top speed of just over 164 mph, as he took home a world record with an average speed of 160+ mph. AMD magazine and the World Championship program had started to detect the early signs in a quantum shift in custom design and engineering thinking several month ago. Goldammer's win confirms that performance may well be poised to emerge as the market's "New Retro" on a moving forward basis. Just as Roger's first World Champion bike of five years ago set the standard for the trends to come, we expect his creation "Goldmember" to do the same in the years to come.

Freestyle Class Results, Top 20
Business Name Builder Bike Name Location Country
1st Goldammer Cycle Works Roger Goldammer Goldmember Kelowna, BC Canada
2nd Hot-Dock Custom Cycles Keiji Kawakita StG Nautilus Nerima, Tokyo Japan
3rd TGS Motorcycles Tobias Guckel Seppster 2 Ice Racer Tittling/Rappenhof Germany
4th Cook Customs JP Persitza The "Nickel Bike" Milwaukee, WI USA
5th Thunderbike Andreas Bergerforth Open Mind Hamminkeln Germany
6th Special Parts Supply Erick Martens Speed Demon Geertruidenberg Netherlands
7th Independent Cycle East Jeff Kessel Hammered Hanover, PA USA
8th Odyssey Motorcycles Bertrand Dubet Naga Toulouse France
9th Stevenson's Cycle Steve Broyles GL Special Wayne, MI USA
10th TPJ Customs Bryan Schimke Hazel Lodi, CA USA
11th Lamb Precision Engineering Larry Houghton Cafe Rouge Salisbury, Wilts UK
12th AFT Customs Jim Giuffra Er Hed Martell, CA USA
13th Krugger Motorcycles Fred Bertrand Half Day Basse-Bodeux Belgium
14th Riverside Motocyclettes & Mort-M Garage Xavier Chante Sugarland Express Vallon Pont d'Arc France
15th Paul Cox Industries Paul Cox The Sword of Damocles Brooklyn, NY USA
16th Sick Bastard Choppers Armindo Alves Sir Lancelot North Miami Beach, FL USA
17th Bare Knuckle Choppers Paul Wideman Kill Yourself Wright City, MO USA
18th= Denny Smith / Motorcycle Worx Denny Smith White Star Racer Pleasanton, KS USA
18th= Nicolas Chauvin Design Nicolas Chauvin Wild Night Neuilly Sous Clermont France
20th Wildstyle Roman Bus Event Horizon Prachatice Czech Republic

Production Manufacturer Class
1st Delaware American Motorcycles Mark Klein Tech Twin American 13c Paterson, NJ USA
2nd Nick Gale Customs / Stonebridge Motorcycle Co Nick Gale Little Miss Dynamite Wembley, Middlesex UK
3rd Darwin Motorcycles Dar Holdsworth Brass Balls Bobber "Military Theme" Oklahoma City, OK USA

When it was all over, there were a total of nine builders from the United States finishing in the top 20, and builders from nine different countries representing the top 20 finishers.

For a full resolution press download, please visit the following link:
http://img.amdchampionship.com/worldchamps08presskit1.zip

Per chi fosse interessato : http://www.amdchampionship.com/

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