Goldammer Crowned World Champion again!

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