For the first time since its inception in 2004, an American custom motorcycle engineer has won the Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building.

The winner, Dave Cook of Cook Custom Choppers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was voted World Champion by his fellow competitors at an event that defied motorcycle industry downturn expectations. With an increased field totalling 83 custom motorcycles from around the world (compared to 67 in 2008), this year’s event is being widely hailed as showcasing the most advanced display of custom motorcycle design and engineering yet seen.

The 51 year old Cook is an internationally recognized engineer and creative genius whose passion for design and engineering excellence had seen him be the winningest American in the past two years, having been fourth and highest placed American competitor behind an international top-three in both 2007 and 2008.

“This is a dream come true”, said Cook, minutes after receiving the acclaim of the large crowd of motorcycle enthusiasts and fellow industry professionals who crowded into the downtown City of Sturgis Champions Park venue.

During the build-up to the contest Cook’s highly anticipated, exquisite, hand-crafted “Rambler” was among the early favorites to become the first American built World Championship winning custom motorcycle.

However, as competitors pulled their bikes in for competition run-checks and registration at the weekend, it became apparent that competition for top-honors was going to be fierce, with dozens of stunning machines in contention in the ‘FreeStyle’ Class from which the World Champion is chosen.

“I have dedicated the best part of three years to trying to win the World Championship, and finally I have achieved the ultimate recognition of my fellow professionals. It is very humbling”, Cook went on to say.

Once described as motorcycling’s “Pulitzers, Nobels and Olympics all rolled into one”, the Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building is staged annually during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, every August, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

It is the culmination of a year-long series of worldwide events, including an annual European Championship, that sees hundreds of custom motorcycle design and engineering hopefuls embark on a quest for the opportunity to compete in USA against many of America’s finest motorcycle industry brains.

Dominated by engineers from Canada, Japan and Europe for the first five years, American motorcycle customizing has now convincingly broken through on its industry’s biggest global stage with seven of the top ten competitors being bike builders based in USA.

Second place was scooped by another American, Kris Krome, of Freeland, Michigan. Third place went Freddie “Krugger” Bertrand from Belgium (Freddie had scored third place twice before, 2004 and 2005). Fourth place went to 2007 World Champion Stellan Egeland from Sweden, with Satya Kraus of Cazedero, California fifth.

-amdchampionship.com