‘INTERMOT Customized’, the all-new ‘show-within-show’ concept unveiled to the riding public at the INTERMOT Expo at Cologne, Germany, October 6th 2016, is being widely acclaimed as a major breakthrough for the way the custom motorcycle industry is presented to the wider riding public and potential new consumers.
With the AMD World Championship center stage as the primary feature in the Cologne Exhibition Center’s atmospheric Hall 10, more than 100 custom market exhibitors drove an increase of some 17 percent in overall exhibitor numbers as INTERMOT saw record visitor numbers and over 40 new motorcycle model launches from the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers.
Now permanently hosted as the anchor event at ‘INTERMOT Customized’, the 12th AMD World Championship featured 82 bikes in total this year, entered by 67 builders from 23 countries, with the win taken by ‘Rumble Racer’ by Suicide Customs – the third time a Japanese customizer has scooped the coveted World Championship winner’s gold and diamond ring.
The debut of ‘INTERMOT Customized’ featured over 100 exhibitors and has been widely praised by exhibitors, custom bike builders, dealers and visitors alike as delivering an inspirational and aspirational show environment that is set to champion the professionalism of the international custom market for years to come.
In addition to the AMD World Championship bikes, the 220,000 plus high-mileage riders and industry professionals who visited INTERMOT this year (some 80 percent plus of whom are estimated to have visited ‘INTERMOT Customized’) saw presentations of custom excellence from a wide range of exhibitors that included several of the leading OEMs – including Harley-Davidson, BMW, Triumph, Yamaha and Kawasaki, all of which took additional INTERMOT booths specifically to showcase their custom buying option credentials; plus Ural from Russia and German V-8 specialist Boss Hoss.
Additional ‘INTERMOT Customized’ features included displays from the OEM/aftermarket-backed 1/8 mile Essenza Spirit of Custom and Sultans of Sprint custom bike race series, a Garage Area featuring live customizing, technical and workshop displays, photography by legendary motorcycle industry lensman Michael Lichter, and history and memorabilia from the Ace Cafe, London.
Leading parts and accessory distributers included Motorcycle Storehouse and Custom Chrome Europe, with the Warren Buffet owned German distributor and retailer Detlev Louis debuting their custom industry program.
Several “mainstream” parts and accessory vendors followed the lead set by the OEMs by taking an additional booth in INTERMOT Customized – well-known names such as LSL, Nolan Helmets and leading German luggage specialist SW-MOTECH, who showed their new ‘Legend’ line.
Parts and accessories specialists at ‘INTERMOT Customized’ included Daytona Twin Tec and Cometic Gaskets from the United States, exhaust manufacturers such as Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde (German) and BSL (Austria), performance specialist Norbert Buesch (Germany) and apparel brands such as OMD (helmets), John Doe (protective casual riding gear), Restless and Rusty Pistons.
European custom shops and custom bike builders stepped up their booth presence, with ‘INTERMOT Customized’ featuring the likes of Fred Kodlin, Ruff Cycles, Mellow Motorcycles, Dr Mechanik, WalzWerk, Independent Choppers, Big Boys Cycles, HBS, Hells Kitchen old school parts and Holger Schnell’s No Limit Custom from Germany, joined by Midland Choppers from Switzerland.
Tracing its origins in Cologne back to 1964, INTERMOT is staged every two years. INTERMOT 2016 attracted an increased attendance of some 220,000 visitors from 95 different countries, and saw over 40 worldwide new motorcycle model premiers from the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers. Over 1,330 exhibiting companies (17 percent up from 2014) from 40 different countries occupied some 70,000 sq m of exhibit space.
In its opening press conference, show owner IVM, the German motorcycle industry trade association, cited ‘INTERMOT Customized’ as the primary driver of the increase in exhibitor numbers.
In total the show occupied 129,000 sq m (nearly 1.4m sq ft) of gross space in 6 state-of-the-art exhibition halls and an additional 70,000 sq m (approx. 750,000 sq ft) of external activity and feature space that included over 15,000 test rides being taken on Scooters and e-bikes. INTERMOT is also host to ‘e-Motion’, another show-within-show concept for the fast growing international Urban Mobility and e-bike market.
The 13th AMD World Championship will be staged at ‘INTERMOT Customized’ during INTERMOT 2018 at the Cologne Exhibition Center (Koelnmesse) from Wednesday October 3rd and conclude with the awards ceremony at 16:00 hrs CET Sunday 7th 2018. AMD World Championship set-up day will be Monday October 1st, with Press Day on Tuesday October 2nd.
