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AMC world championships: The world's wildest custom motorcycles shine at Intermot

By Loz Blain
October 07, 2018
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This bike rolls into Intermot all the way from Seoul, Korea. Agnes Custom's Agoo Moto is an absolute whopper of a future-cruiser hand-built around a 1340cc Harley motor. 
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MH900Endless, built by Onehandmade out of Taiwan. Started out as a 2000-model Ducati
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Zillers Garage, from Moscow, contributed this gleaming board tracker. The frame is completely hand-built in stainless steel, using a Jawa 500 motor (converted from methanol to gasoline) with a BSA transmission and a hand-made duolever front suspension system. Badass.
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Italian operation FMW Motorcycles spent five months on this, the Hurakan. It uses an S&S Superstock engine, with a handmade frame, swingarm and a cute triple-exit exhaust
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Callela Custom, from Spain, entered "Breaking Limits," a 2003 Harley Sportster with an S&S 1460cc kit. The bodywork on top is probably best described as cafe racer style.
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Meet Bloody Mary, by American Dreams out of Italy. Dominated by a 32-inch whopper of a front wheel, you might expect Mary to be a pain in the butt on the street - but the builders say it's so comfy and cruises so well that they've even fitted cruise control.
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In front: 32 inches of spoked magnificence. In back: kicking stereo speakers. This bike is built to party.
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The Raw Bike Factory, from Italy, is responsible for the above nightmare. Named Apophis 99942, it's got a relatively friendly Ducati 695 motor in it, but turns into a sheet iron alien armadillo at the tank. The wheels feature tires that have been nailed through nearly 2000 times. Back away slowly, that's our advice.
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Indian makes some beautiful motors, and this bike from Louis Motorrad in Germany celebrates the gleaming V-twin from a 2016 Chief Vintage. Called "Engina," it's almost an understatement in the company it's keeping here at Intermot, but we love the headdress paint job and the sectioned exhaust.
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Meet VisiOne, from Debenedetti & Fiordi Designers, out of Italy, who felt that the Buell XB12 wasn't weird or interesting enough on its own and struck out to create something "as futuristic as a jet." Jets have been around for quite some time, but it's hard to argue the team didn't hit its mark.
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Access to the Engina's top end is through the flip-up tank, which could also serve as a mirror for riders who struggle with vanity and would prefer to see their own face than the road.
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The first (and perhaps only!) electric in the show: Smits Lightning, by Smits Custom Choppers - and it's built to look like it's rocking a V-Twin from the future. It's not, though - in fact, its axial flux electric motor makes only a piddling 15 kilowatts. Still, it's got a very sexy shape, and we quite like the way it pays tribute to the gas guzzlers of yesteryear.
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Dear lord, those proportions. That curved frame! Over the Top is an absolute beauty from Augustin Motorcycles in Germany, starting out with a Revtech modified 125 cubic inch Evo motor. Everything that looks like carbon fiber is, and everything that looks like gold is, too. The overall effect is absolutely gob-stopping.
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Italy's PDF Motocyclette contributed this 1951 Vincent-based stunner, called Quadrophenia. We're not sure exactly what it's got four of, but its brass-plated tank, alligator-leather seat, original Vincent telelever front-end and curvaceous exhausts make it a real head-turner.
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Italy's Lari Motori took a 1979 Moto Morini 500, and turned it into... This. Taraki's front half looks kinda like a vintage race bike angled downward and emerging from the floor, and the back half looks kinda like a board tracker, but the whole thing together... Not our cup of tea.
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Sika Garage, out of Finland, contributes our first raked-out chopper, called "The Saint." That front end has a 57-degree rake and a set of three-foot i-beam forks, so you'd best bring payphone change to call the front wheel well in advance if you wish to turn a corner.
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I wish we'd taken some more detail shots on this one, it's absolutely spectacular up close. Alessio Mattiazzi is as Italian as his name sounds, and he entered "Beelzebub's Ditch Jumper" in the Retro Mod category. It looks like it's been sprayed with glue and ridden through the town bazaar, picking up gold and chrome details along the way.
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American Dreams, from Italy, also brought its Iceman Scout Boardtracker along. Beginning with a 1927 Indian Scout motor and frame, it's a candy red/hot copper beauty.
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The other side of the Iceman Scout Boardtracker
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This is the Speedster King, from Marusius, out of Hungary. It's far too weird for our tastes, but the builders deserve due credit for building this thing from the 1700cc v-twin engine out. Quite remarkable.
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This diabolical contraption is the Ducati ZeroUno, from Gianni Pellegrino of Italy. Its diabolicism stems from the fact that it's all backwards; this bike is driven by the front wheel and steered by twin rear wheels via a series of linkages.
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The Ducati ZeroUno's rigid front end features a driven front wheel. The steering is routed back to the twin rear wheels. Riding this thing must be absolutely terrifying... Can I have a go?
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The Simson Phantom 3, by SW Customs of Germany, is a bit of a cutie, with an 85cc motor, a single sided swingarm, a floating saddle and a wacky set of bodywork that recalls shapes from the second world war.
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Much of its detail is hidden away, though, with nicely etched engine covers and a hidden hip flask behind a door in the fairing
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Every bike show features a spectrum of bikes, but it's rare to find something that stretches out so far on the low end of the scale. Macmag, from Poland, should keep this thing for banging around in the back yard, not entering in custom contests. 
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Wow. Olafur Boldursson hails half from Yorkshire and half from Iceland, and "Solfar" here is what he calls a "one-off development." Boldursson bought the Honda V4 engine, the brake calipers and master cylinders, and the fork legs, and "every other single part is designed and made by the owner" - including a fully custom carbon frame, wheels, fork tubes and tank.
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Solfar is inspired by old Viking ships, says its creator, which is why he chose to try combining old (wood) and new (carbon) fibers in its design
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Iron Custom Motors, from the Ukraine, presented this head-scratcher of a thing, which is called "Geometric." It features a 350cc two-stroke engine, plus ICM's own "Christie" type suspension and... Well, whatever that thing on the front is. In fact, do those handlebars reach inside that front wheel cover? Where does the axle pivot? What on Earth is going on here?
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A closer look at Geometric leaves us none the wiser
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Looking like something Ludovic Lazareth would build, this is the colossal Drag 360 from Szajba's Garage in Poland. The builders started out with a Goldwing 1500 motor and the hub-center steered front end of a Yamaha GTS 1000.
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That's a 360-section rear tire right there, and can you pick the bike that tail section has been pinched from?
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This nameless streetfighter, from Onehandmade in Taiwan, started life as a MV Agusta Brutale 675, and builder Queen Hung has basically made a custom set of bodywork for it. It certainly represents the more conservative side of the scale here.
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And back on the other end of the scale we find Revolver, by Mechanical Workshop of Mevdevev in Moscow. The engine is a Honda NX 650, the swingarm's off a VFR400, and the rest is elbow grease.
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Revolver's remarkable hand-made parallelogram suspension
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Revolver's beautifully engraved six-shooter tank.
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This bike rolls into Intermot all the way from Seoul, Korea. Agnes Custom's Agoo Moto is an absolute whopper of a future-cruiser hand-built around a 1340cc Harley motor. 
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The Agoo Moto's single-sided front swingarm is connected to the handlebars, but they're waaaaay back from it - we wonder what it'd be like trying to ride this thing.
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This Irish bike from Medaza Cycles in Cork is called Stechmucke, and features an MZ 250cc motor with a Wilf Green 300 kit installed. She's a wacky looker alright!
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The Beast of Brooklands is the work of one Pavel Malanik, from the Czech Republic, and it's a tribute to J.A. Prestwich and his land speed record holding motorcycles of the early 1900s. Prestwich had to hand-build his motors, and so has Malanik with this 2714cc, transmissionless, clutchless beast: "Only the tires, seat and spark plugs originated from serial production, the rest is hand made by Pavel Malanik."
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This bike is called KastoLom. The Russian company that built it is also called KastoLom. And while it doesn't look like much of a comfy tourer, you've got to admire the work that's gone into this thing. The motor is from a Yamaha XJR1300, the wheels are off a Harley V-Rod, and the rest is pretty much hand built.
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KastoLom's frame is made out of sheets of steel. So are the seat unit and curved spinal area where the tank would normally sit. The tank itself, we believe, is right up over the front wheel with two glass windows in it, and it extends down into a bit of a rhinoceros horn that'll keep pedestrians out of your way at the lights. 
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We've spent a solid five minutes staring at KastoLom's front suspension, but we're none the wiser about how it works or where it pivots. And as for the rear, well, despite the fact that each of those 500 oversized, hand-made fasteners are circular, none appears to be a pivot point for the swingarm. Yep, it's a hardtail.
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You want wacky ideas? Here's your wacky ideas. Tomas Pitlik from the Czech republic presents TnorF, which the eagle-eyed will notice is FronT spelled backwards. Backwards indeed! TnorF places the entire engine assembly right there on the front wheel, leaving everything behind the steering head more barren and sparse than most bicycles.
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TnorF's motor is a 1938 CZ Special displacing 175cc, with exhaust outlets curling around the front tire. The leather and glass components of the frame are painted with silver and gold.
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From Gallery Motorcycles of Italy, meet Legend. Entirely hand-made outside of its meticulously restored angine, Legend features an interesting-looking front fork that can be raised and lowered with a hand air pump on the tank. 
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Legend makes use of a restored Harley-Davidson engine from 1917 - it's amazing to realize Wille and Arthur had already been building bikes for 14 years at that point. 
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We believe this is Legend's gearshift lever, topped with a set of teeth. We bet there's a story somewhere here, but we're no wiser than you on it.
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Enjoy nickel plating? Here's the ride for you. All the way from Malaysia, here's Bone X from Eastern Bobber. The motor is a 350cc single cylinder, a 1961 design from AJS in England, and the rest is hand made. The suspension deserves special mention - single sided at both ends, with the springs for both the fork and shock running over the top of the tank as a depilatory trap for bearded riders, and an over-under design at the front the likes of which we've never seen before.
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The springs running along the top of the tank, apart from pinching beard hairs, are visually reminiscent of ribs on this skeletal machine. It must be fun watching them move as you ride over bumps - the builders say Bone X has a top speed of 100 kmh (62 mph).
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Opposite side view of Bone X's bizarre single-sided front end suspension, with linkages running back to a spring on the tank.
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The rotary Baron's motor is a Rotec Radial R3600, a nine-cylinder, 150-horsepower engine from WW1-era warplanes.
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It's not in the custom contest downstairs, but we can't resist adding Frank Ohle's Rotar Baron, a giant, barrel-chested chopper with an aeroplane engine in it.
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If the Roter Baron's engine looks wild from a regular viewpoint, it's a whole extra level when you move down low.
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The world's largest running motorcycle was in attendance. Meet the colossal Gunbus 410, which is more than 11 feet long.
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The custom-built motor is a 410 cubic inch (6.7-liter) V-twin. We can't imagine what this thing must sound like.
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View gallery - 54 images

Looking at production bikes, you could be forgiven for thinking there's not much real innovation going on in the motorcycle world. And when you see the bizarre and creative and wonderful things custom builders are doing ... well, you get a sense for why manufacturers tend to play it safe.

The Intermot motorcycle expo in Cologne, Germany, showcased just about every production motorcycle on the planet, and was a fascinating overview of the industry as a whole. But deep in the bowels of Hall 10, competitors were assembled for the 2018 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, sponsored by Avon tires. Judged by peer review – the competitors, as experts in custom building, judge the workmanship and creativity of each others' bikes for the final score – the AMD title is hotly contested and highly desired.

Row after row of hand-made and heavily modified bikes from all over the world (but principally Europe) sat there in dingy lighting, each telling a different twisted story to those with a keen enough eye to figure out what the builders were up to. We tried to grab shots of as many as we could, from the sublime to the ridiculous – and there were plenty of both.

Meet VisiOne, from Debenedetti & Fiordi Designers, out of Italy, who felt that the Buell XB12 wasn't weird or interesting enough on its own and struck out to create something "as futuristic as a jet." Jets have been around for quite some time, but it's hard to argue the team didn't hit its mark.
Loz Blain/New Atlas

Take VisiOne above, from Italy, a Buell XB12 at heart, but surrounded by custom everything, including a flip-up panel on the tank for protection when you're riding through swarms of bees (or accessing the top end of the motor).

This diabolical contraption is the Ducati ZeroUno, from Gianni Pellegrino of Italy. Its diabolicism stems from the fact that it's all backwards; this bike is driven by the front wheel and steered by twin rear wheels via a series of linkages.
Loz Blain/New Atlas

Or the profoundly scary Ducati ZeroUno, a shameless emergency room express with rigid front wheel drive and steering handled via long linkages back to a pair of rear wheels. Pure evil.

Dear lord, those proportions. That curved frame! Over the Top is an absolute beauty from Augustin Motorcycles in Germany, starting out with a Revtech modified 125 cubic inch Evo motor. Everything that looks like carbon fiber is, and everything that looks like gold is, too. The overall effect is absolutely gob-stopping.
Loz Blain/New Atlas

One of the sauciest bikes on display in terms of pure looks was Over the Top, above, festooned with carbon fiber and 24-karat gold and utterly dazzling to the eye.

This bike is called KastoLom. The Russian company that built it is also called KastoLom. And while it doesn't look like much of a comfy tourer, you've got to admire the work that's gone into this thing. The motor is from a Yamaha XJR1300, the wheels are off a Harley V-Rod, and the rest is pretty much hand built.
Loz Blain/New Atlas

And as a sheer visual punch in the face, it's hard to go past KastoLom, built by KastoLom out of Russia, which looks like something H.R. Giger's Alien might hoon about on if he was going through a punk phase and getting into piercings. Good grief!

Entries spanned the full spectrum of motorcycling, albeit canted toward the vintage. Do yourself a favor, jump into our AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building photo gallery and see them all!

View gallery - 54 images

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MotorcyclesCrazyCustomsCustom BikesIntermot 2018
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Loz Blain
Loz has been one of our most versatile contributors since 2007, and has since proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer and podcast engineer, as well as a senior features writer. Joining the team as a motorcycle specialist, he's covered just about everything for New Atlas, concentrating lately on clean energy, AI, humanoid robotics, next-gen aircraft, and the odd bit of music and automotive. In February 2024, he stepped up to lead New Atlas as Editorial Director, and he's as curious as anyone to see how that pans out.
5 comments
jerryd
No aero cabin MCs? Not really much of anything you'd actually ride more than a few miles if that. How about real MC transport innovation, not such expensive toys that do little well. The future is huge for under 1k lb EVs but no one is doing much, just this gaudy stuff.
Imran Sheikh
there were some really unique designs like "Speedster King by Marusius" and some really Good ones like Callela Custom's "Breaking Limits". good coverage - Gizmag..
Martin Hone
About as enjoyable, and useful, as a work of art on the wall
dougspair
GUNBUS....he's been working on that for a very long time, good to see it finished.
toyhouse
I looked up the gunbus to see a video of it being ridden. Turns out - there isn't one, (unless someone here knows of it),. The only thing seen is the engine idling on a test stand. While impressive, that's not the whole machine. Even art bikes should be capable of being ridden, (even if poorly), to classify as a motorcycle. Our opinion of course.
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