9th annual AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building - Class winners

Boccin Custom Cycles, Italy, take Modified Harley-Davidson AMD World Championship win at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Following their triumph at the AMD World Championship program affiliate event at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, England in June, Boccin Custom Cycles (B.C.C. - www.boccincustomcycles.com) have become Modified Harley-Davidson World Champions at the 9th annual AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at the 2012 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August.

Based on a 1946 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead engine and frame, Lorenzo Solighetto's much admired "Knuckle '46" was chosen by World Championship fellow competitors and selected VIP judges to have built the stand-out 'Class of 2012' custom in the Harley-Davidson sponsored class.

Their win scoops them a first prize of a Screamin' Eagle 120R engine for their next project.

Second place was taken by noted Hamburg, Germany, based 'retro' specialist Uwe Ehinger (Ehinger Kraftrad - www.ehingerkraftrad.com) with "Snow Racer", a 1936 VLH engined, rigid framed Harley that features 1946 U heads in combination with a German made NH Power primary belt drive, Baker 6-into-4 gearbox with French made Beringer inboard brakes.

Third place was taken by Joe Cooper of Buckley, Washington, USA, (Cooper Smithing Co - www.coopersmithingco.com) with "Gun Baby", a 1996 XL 883 featuring Buell front end wheels and brakes and a stunning acid etched finish by Tony Morgan (www.gunbabygraphics.com).

AFT takes AMD World Championship Performance Custom Class win for second straight year at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

AFT Customs of Jackson, California (www.aftcustoms.com) won the Performance Custom Class at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building for the second year running - the first time any custom bike builder has retained a Championship crown since Roger Goldammer took a second World Championship FreeStyle win in 2005, and one of two winners to achieve it at this year's 9th annual AMD World Championship (the other was in the Production Manufacturer Class).

Called "Halia", the winning Honda VT 750 BR engined 'Street Tracker' was built by the 'AFT Girls' - a group of female motorcycle enthusiasts and part-time models who have trained at college and at Jim Guiffra's AFT Customs to hone their workshop and custom motorcycle skills to great effect!

The class was closely fought, with competitors and selected VIP judges voting an unprecedented three-way tie for the win in the class, with the one, two, three determined by judging preference count-back.

Second place was taken by Steve Garn (BREW Bikes of Creston, North Carolina, USA - www.brewracingframes.com) with "9605" (the bike's race number) a race prepared 1971 Honda CB 350 that has set class mile records which only cost some $1,800 in bought parts!

Third in the class was taken by noted Big Twin performance engineer Curt Winter (BTRmoto - www.btrmoto.com) of Hayward, California, whose "BTR GP" featured a Harley-Davidson Twin Cam 88 engine in a custom trellis race-style frame with aluminum swingarm, inverted Showa front-end and proprietary BTR 5 speed drivetrain.

Darwin Motorcycles takes AMD World Champion Production Manufacturer win at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Darwin Motorcycles of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA (www.darwinmotorcycles.com) became one of two AMD World Championship class winners to retain their crowns at this year's AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building - the other was in the Performance Custom Class - the first competitors to do so since Roger Goldammer of Canada backed-up his 2004 first annual AMD World Championship win at Las Vegas in 2005.

Dar Holdsworth's "Rocketeer F3" is a custom rigid framed street-bobber styled roadster based on a 103 inch S&S 'Shovelhead' style 45 degree air-cooled v-twin engine, featuring a 'Mean Streets' front end, Baker 6-speed transmission, HDW wheels and Beringer dual hub brake set-up at the front with a '3 Guyz' sprocket brake at the rear.

Second place went to T.D. Ward's Rods & Rides Motorcycle Co (www.rodsandridesmotorcyclecompany.com) of St Louis, Missouri, USA with their "Sturgis Special", a 95 cubic inch S&S Cycle 'Knucklehead' style engined boardtrack racer on a proprietary custom frame with 26 inch PM wheels.

Third place went to Mike Tomas of Kiwi Indian Motorcycles (www.kiwiindian.com) of Riverside, California for another board track racer styled special, called "Hendee Deviant" featuring one of Kiwi Mike's proprietary 84 cubic inch air-cooled v-twin engines and single-loop frames.

In advance of the AMD World Championship's move to the Big Bike Europe expo in Germany in May 2013, Mike Tomas also received a special appreciation award from AMD Magazine publisher Robin Bradley and AMD World Championship Director Neil Blaber, honoring the 9 continuous years he has competed in the AMD World Championship - the only motorcycle engineer to have participated in all 9 World Championships since the event made its debut in California in 2004.

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Photography credit: Studio bike shots by Onno Wieringa and Frank Sander.

Modified Harley-Davidson class 1st place, Boccin Custom Cycles (Italy)

Modified Harley-Davidson class 2nd place, Ehinger Kraftrad (Germany)

Modified Harley-Davidson class 3rd place, cooper Smithing Co (USA)

Performance Custom class 1st place, AFT Customs (USA)

Performance Custom class 2nd place, BREW Bikes (USA)

Performance Custom class 3rd place, BTRmoto (USA)

Production Manufacturer class 1st place, Darwin Motorcycles (USA)

Production Manufacturer class 2nd place, Rods & Rides Motorcycle Co (USA)

Production Manufacturer class 3rd place, Kiwi Indian Motorcycles (USA)