German self-build wins the European customizing championship
From November 28-30 to December 1, 2025, Bad Salzuflen was all about the European custom bike scene. More than 20,000 visitors flocked to the East Westphalian spa town not to miss the largest trade fair for converted motorcycles on the continent. With three exhibition halls, over 23,000 square meters of exhibition space, around 200 international exhibitors and a good 250 spectacular custom bikes from all over Europe, the CUSTOMBIKE show once again set new standards. And featured some dramatic highlights.
The „German Räng-Däng-Däng-Build-Off“ was held for the second time in Bad Salzuflen. Over the course of two days at the trade fair, the Töffli-Keiler Ostfriesland and the Sollso Moppeds team from Braunschweig fought a highly exciting duel. What the two teams put together on the basis of a Puch Maxi and a Simson SR2 was first class and was in no way inferior to the big biker build-off - and certainly not in terms of excitement.
This was because the audience vote had given the Braunschweig team a wafer-thin lead of eight votes, although their chain had jumped off when they rode up to the stage, which should have led to the votes being deducted. As the two teams had become friends in the course of the duel, they jointly decided to share the winner's trophy on stage with a jigsaw, meaning that the Moped Build-Off had two winners this year.
The European Biker Build-Off, where two custom bikes are built in front of the audience on a large show stage, was hardly any less close. This year, the teams led by Daniel Zürker from American Dream Cycles in Germany and Klaudijus Stelmoka from Killer Custom in Lithuania fought a duel at eye level during the three days of the trade fair - actually.
While Zürker converted his Harley-Davidson Milwaukee Eight Softail from fuel injection to carburetor, Stelmokas did the opposite and gave his Low Rider ST a supercharger. Unfortunately, this risk didn't pay off in the end, the Performance Clubstyler wouldn't start at the crucial moment, and even a 20-minute time extension, which his rival Zürker had extended again and again to be fair, didn't help.
The German team would have won anyway after the votes were counted, but by a very narrow margin. After deducting 25% of the votes for the Lithuanian team in accordance with the rules, the lead was clearer. And so the BBO winner in the end was clearly American Dream Cycles, while Team Lithuania took it sportingly and commented. „Sometimes shit happens!“
The absolute highlight of the show is, of course, the final of the European Custombike Championship. The European Championship is endowed with a total of 12,000 euros, five thousand of which go to the best bike at the show. Peter Herbert brought the title back to Germany after three years with his brilliant Indian Scout Board Track custom bike.
Peter didn't touch a single part of this motorcycle during the two-and-a-half-year construction period; apart from the engine, gearbox and wheels, virtually everything on this V2 cracker was built by himself, truly a deserving champion.
In addition to these highlights, a varied stage program was offered: The lucky main winner of the competition, which took place as part of the voting for the CUSTOMBIKE competition, was able to take home a Honda GB350 S. Little Miss Nasty from the USA fascinated the audience with their spectacular art dance performance. New production bikes and conversions from Kawasaki were also presented, while the Thunderbike team talked about 40 years of company history and the 35th birthday of the iconic Harley-Davidson Fatboy was celebrated.
And the troupe from the Fachholschule Kufstein not only explained their custom projects, but also how to study conversion. This was complemented by a colorful bodypanting show and Jimmy Cornett, who once again wowed visitors on the guitar. The newly created tattoo area was also a great addition to the trade fair, with the needles buzzing continuously. Daily raffles concluded each day of the fair.
So we can already look forward to next year, when the CUSTOMBIKE Show celebrates its 21st birthday. Everyone involved is already working on a few new ideas. Make a note of the date in your calendar: November 27 to 29, 2026, Messezentrum Bad Salzuflen.
THE WINNERS OF THE EUROPEAN CUSTOMBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP 2025
Craziest Bike: Self-built agricultural diesel - Cedric Kotlewski from Germany
Best Moped: Simson S51/SR2 - Joe Wenzel from Germany
Rookie of the Year: Yamaha XS 650 - Tobias Greiß from Germany
Best Big Twin Performance: Harley-Davidson Road Glide - Geert van Hoof from Belgium
Best Paintjob: KTM 900 SM Pifostio - Manuel del Compo Escotet from Spain
Best Roadster: Jawa 350 Flat Tracker - Sebastian Brandt from Germany
Best Metric: Yamaha SR 500 - Simon Danckwerts from Great Britain
Best Sportsbike: Harley-Davidson Sportster Saltflat Racer - Heinz Steber from Germany
Best Bobber: Harley-Davidson Knucklehead - Timo Gorius from Germany
Best Chopper: Harley-Davidson Shovelhead - Pierre-Yves Wingerter from France
Best Cafe Racer: Yamaha XV 750 Virago - Ivan Vukoja from Croatia
Best Old School: Triumph T120 - Sasa Popovic from Germany
Best Engineering: Harley-Davidson Softail - Thomas Bader from Germany
Best Radical: Honda CX 500 La Trapezia - Ruben Mellaerts from Belgium
Best of Show: Indian Scout Board Track self-build - Peter Herbert from Germany
CUSTOMBIKE Show 2025
28.11. - 30.11.2025
Bad Salzuflen Exhibition Center
Text & picture credits: Custombike Show 2025 / Pictures Dirk Behlau
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