AMD World Championship Sturgis 2011 Show Results

Japanese bike builder Ken Tabata came to Sturgis as an unknown to win the 2011 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, on Wed., Aug. 10th. Tabata of Tavax Engineering, Yao City, Osaka, worked for more than 3 years on "TAVAX 2011V," a bike with dynamic movement and power, "designed to look like a Cheetah about to pounce."

Top 3 in the Freestyle class: Satya Kraus of Kraus Motor Co (left) (3rd place), newly-crowned World Champion Ken Tabata of Tavax Engineering (center) and Larry Houghton of Lamb Engineering (2nd place).    Click images to enlarge.

TAVAX2011V effortlessly combines sculpted aluminum bodywork with one-off hand-made pieces that form the suspension and replace the stock engine and transmission covers. At the rear of the bike the swingarm pivots from behind the rear cylinder, arcing over the transmission, and carrying a linkage system operated single shock, a design similar to that found on many modern sports bikes.

At the front of the machine the suspension begins at the axle as a leading link fork, which then changes via a pair of links to finish as a Springer fork.

To demonstrate the performance potential of his bike Ken has forgone tall and wide wheels, favoring instead a pair of Marchesini 17in sport bike rims carrying floating rotors and Lockheed brake calipers.

Taking a less complex styling route, Larry Houghton, of Lamb Engineering, secured second place with Son of a Gun. Based around a 1951 BSA single cylinder engine (found on eBay) and Talon motocross wheels. Larry built the rest of the bike himself, often collecting material from the scrap bins of friends in the engineering trade. His careful recycling of material meant that he was able to build a World Class custom motorcycle for less than $9,000, including the gold candy silver metalflake paint wrap.

Third place winner Satya Kraus believes in the bare essentials, aptly demonstrated by his entry, "Bolide." He achieved his aim by putting a 93ci S&S Shovelhead motor in a one-off frame carrying a mono-shocked swingarm, telescopic forks and 17in Alpina spoked wheels shod with Metzeler sport bike tires.

1st Place - Performance Custom Class was won by Jim Giuffra and the girls of AFT Customs, who rebuilt a 1970 Honda CB750 café racer styled custom, complete with RaceTech suspension, Beringer brakes and numerous one-off pieces.

1st Place, Production Class: The influence that café racers are having on the current custom scene can also be seen in the design of the top placed Production Manufacturer class bike. Best known for its line of Chops and Bobbers, Darwin Motorcycles has built what it describes as an American muscle bike. Powered by a 132ci S&S X-Wedge V-twin, the RLX carries a full range of top spec components including Öhlins suspension, Beringer brakes and BST carbon fiber wheels.

Italian Sidecar Bike wins AMD Modified Harley Class: A first in 2011 for the World Championship was the entry of a sidecar outfit and it was this outfit, Abnormal Cycles' Union, that took the honors in the Modified Harley class. The Model 'U' powered outfit features a stock frame fitted with a custom sidecar body and a leaf spring Indian style front end, which includes a pair of handlebars created to also look like a leaf spring.

The World Championship of Custom Bike Building exists to showcase and promote international custom motorcycle design and engineering quality, craftsmanship and innovation; and to promote the evolution of custom motorcycling in ways that will help secure the unique enjoyment of custom motorcycles for future generations of riders.

The World Championship is a free-public-admission four-day event that opens on the first Sunday of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, culminating in an awards ceremony at 3:00 pm MST on the Wednesday of the Rally. The whole event, including the awards ceremony, is broadcast on the internet and you will find photos of all of the top bikes at www.AMDChampionship.com.

'65 Harley Bobber "Just Add Violence" Ready for Sturgis 2011

Are you ready for Sturgis?

I will be posting photos from the 2011 AMD and Rat's Hole Bike Shows ASAP! Last year's Best of Show winner at the Buffalo Chip - Rat's Hole Show was "Courtesan" created by Abu Dhabi (UAE) builder, Mario  Kyprianides of Chopper Kulture.

Mario is back this year with "Just Add Violence," based on a 1965 Panhead. The bike was built before and after the Sturgis 2010 Rally for competition in the Biker-Build-Off Europe in early December 2010.  J.A.V. is for sure one of the top bikes to beat at Sturgis 2011. 

It won the AMD Middle East Championship, Best of Show, People's Choice, Free-style, and Best Paint Job at Dubai Bike Week in February 2011. Click on images to enlarge.

The bike was shipped to Daytona Beach at the end of February 2011 to compete in the World Series Showdown at The Rat's Hole Show during the 70^th Daytona Bike Week. It won against bike builders from the US, Canada and Australia, on top of winning Best Bobber.

The Harley panhead engine was rebuilt and customized by Billy at BB Racing. "We wanted to give the motor a more tech look," said Mario. "Billy and I medaled with the idea of making pan tops with glass so you can see the moving lifters  and splashing oil." Parts include an S&S oil pump and Jims hydraulic lifters. Wiseco pistons with 9:1 compression ratio with an Andrews J grind cam give the motor a little edge.

Rowe valves and guides were used and a mew aftermarket cam cover was sent to the engravers for some metal tattooing. The bike utilizes a Morris magneto G5 ignition and Cycle Electric generator. All the gaskets are from Cometic Gasket for a good no "spot marking" bike. With the glass tops on the heads, you can see the brass blocks below, with silver inscriptions: like FTW, FU etc. 
  

Because old Harleys have a unique thread size ¼’-24 that falls in the middle between coarse thread and fine thread, as well as bolts that have a unique and unusual taper of 82 degrees, all of the hardware was custom made from scratch in stainless steel by Jim from Diamond Engineering in Florida. For the transmission, Baker billet covers that look just like the original ones but polish really nice to give the whole unit a rich look.

A Chopper Kulture signature frame was used with a slight variation in order to position the drive train. Instead of the usual gooseneck, Mario decided to go straight up the backbone. "This frame has slightly more rake at 32 degrees and a slightly narrower rear end to house the 180 tire. The frontend is also a custom piece, with 2 inch stretch. The big difference is that it has the dampening springs in front of each other instead of side by side. This gives the whole bike a nice sleek look," he said. Wheels and brakes are from HHI.

The inverted "Cathedral" bars were knocked up from a straight tube and a perfect match for the previously made sissy bar, said Mario. "The forward controls were another special item that took a while to work out. They are the first and the debut of a line of Chopper Kulture forward controls. And what a perfect way to showcase them!"

"I wanted to keep the top of the transmission area clean, so I decided to combine the gas tank and oil tank," said Mario. "I came up with a two-piece idea that has a Frankenstein look, but also has the unmistakable look and feel of a Custom Kulture bike."

As usual, all of the chroming was sent to California MecLec. A seat pan was also sent to California, where Duane Ballard did the custom leather and tooling.

The frame and all important sheet metal parts were sent to Connecticut to be painted by Robert Pradke.  While Mario was showing "Courtesan" at the Sturgis 2010 Rally, Robert worked non-stop for six weeks (300 hours) on the candy tangerine metal-flake wrap. Custom brass units were made for all of the gas and oil fillers and sent to the engraver, along with the handle bar risers and shifter knob -- "Gas Hole" for the fuel and "Lube Hole" for the oil; and on the risers "Love" and "Hate." The brass shifter knob bears the inscription "Thug Life" ... Just Add Violence.

Written by MJ Lloyd Reynolds, owner of Motorcycle Event News at www.MotorcycleEventNews.com and MJR Media.

AMD Show - Swiss Harley Days - European H.O.G. Rally 2011

Swiss Harley Days finds a home in Lugano for 2011 The official announcement by Harley-Davidson management for a repeat of Swiss Harley Days was made. The city of Lugano will once again host Swiss Harley Days - This year's rally is July 8th & 9th 2011.

Also just announced. Harley-Davidson Switzerland confirmed that, this year's event at Campione d'Italia/Lugano, Switzerland will be a Modified Harley-Davidson World Championship affilate event.

With the Campione d'Italia/Lugano Modified Harley Class winner receiving prize money to be able to compete at the world Championships at Sturgis, USA courtesy of Harley-Davidson Switzerland. The affiliation represents another opportunity for a European authorised Harley dealer or private customer to "mis-it" with America's best and try to follow the trail blazed by current Modified Harley-Davidson World Champions Shaw H-D from the UK.

Here's the video of European H.O.G. Rally 2010 in Lugano!

Related Article: Photos & Story of Swiss Harley Days - European H.O.G. Rally 2010