Full house - CUSTOMBIKE-SHOW 2013 with new visitor record

Three exhibition halls, 25,000 square meters, 330 exhibitors, over 800 radically modified motorcycles and more than

Visitors - the CUSTOM BIKE SHOW confirms its position as the world's leading trade fair for motorcycle customizing. The CUSTOM BIKE SHOW took place from December 6 to 8 in the exhibition center of Bad Salzuflen took place for the ninth time. The international significance of the event was underlined by the large number of exhibitors, visitors and bike show participants from abroad. Sweden, England, the Benelux countries, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Russia, Japan and the USA - never have so many nations been present at the show as this year.

Bill Dodge, aus den  USA angereister Star-Customizer, zeigte sich beeindruckt: »Ich hätte niemals erwartet, dass eine Messe in einem kleinen  Ort in Deutschland alles in den Schatten stellt. Ich bin absolut überwältigt und werde nächstes Jahr definitiv wiederkom – men.« Beim EUROPEAN BIKER BUILD-OFF 2013 gab es ein Novum in der Geschichte des Umbau-Contests. Zum ersten Mal gab es  keinen Sieger beim vielbeachteten Live-Custom-Wettbewerb. Aykut Tataroglu (A.T. American Cycles, Deutschland) und Sto- kan Dukic (Seven Star Choppers, Schweiz) hatten über die drei Messetage jeweils ein radikales Bike auf die Räder gestellt, am Ende standen sich ein High-End-Kompressor-Kracher und ein klassischer Highneck-Chopper gegenüber. Gemäß den Statuten des BIKER BUILD-OFF müssen beide Motorräder während der Messe gestartet werden und eigenständig fahren.   Das gelang zur Enttäuschung von Teilnehmern und Zuschauern keinem der beiden Protagonisten, weswegen der Contest keinen Sieger hervorbrachte. Die Kontrahenten nahmen es sportlich. Aykut Tataroglu erklärte überwältigt: »Ich hatte trotzdem drei grandiose Tage hier auf der Messe. Danke an mein Team.«

• In contrast, the International Custombike Championship Germany (ICCG) produced 14 winners. The expert jury, consisting of the editors of the magazines CUSTOMBIKE, DREAM-MACHINES and BIKERS NEWS, selected their favorites from 280 motorcycles, while the »Best of Show« trophy, worth 2,500 euros, was decided by the participants themselves in the voting.
• A victory at this prestigious show is like an accolade within the custom scene, and the excitement was correspondingly high. Joy of the winners.

Winner:

• Craziest Bike - Honda Goldwing - Tomasz Pawlos (Poland)
• Best Engineering - Twintrax self-build with two motors - Christoph Madaus (Germany)
• Best Metric Bike - Honda VT 600 Shadow - Enrico Arnold (Germany)
• Best Cafe Racer - Benelli 654 Sport - Vincenzo Ciancio (Italy)
• Best Chopper - Indian-Redneck-XXL - Lars Sundberg (Sweden)
• Best Oldschool - Triumph T120 R - Frank Dilbakowski (Germany)
• Rookie of the Year - Harley-Davidson Shovelhead - Fynn C. Grabke (Germany)
• Best Paint - H-D Softail-VG-Trike - Andreas Friedrich (Germany) Editors Choice - Husqvarna 1668 - Lars Sundberg (Sweden)
• Best Streetfighter - Honda Pan European - Nádas Csaba (Hungary)
• Best Power Cruiser - Harley-Davidson V-Rod - Carsten Rudolph (Germany)
• Best Bobber - Harley-Davidson FL - Arno Kruth (Germany)
• Best Radical - Real Steel Eigenbau - Hans Bozzies (Netherlands)
• Best of Show - Harley-Davidson FXS Low Rider - Pete Pearson (England)

All in all, the trade fair CUSTOM BIKE SHOW In 2013, one highlight followed another - for example the German premiere of the brand new BMW R nineT, naturally with the matching first conversion of the bike on the side.

There were also many other new products and premieres, for example the electric custom bike »TEM01 Full Electric« - an exciting glimpse into the future.

The supporting program was complemented by a wide range of shows and action, such as the Miss Custombike contest, the Harley fashion show, the spectacular wall acrobatics of the Kroeze family from the Netherlands and a big after-show party at which exhibitors, spectators and organizers celebrated what was probably the most successful CUSTOMBIKE SHOW of all time. 

The tenth edition of the CUSTOMBIKE-SHOW takes place in 2014 from December 5 to 7. Copyright: Huber-Verlag 2013 Photo gallery