The Custom Built Show is the premier custom motorcycle show in Latin America. Taking place in Bogotá, Colombia, in early August, the show brings together bike builders and restoration specialists from all over Central and South America. Say the show organizers:
“Participating in the Custom Built Show is not simply exhibiting a motorcycle, it is sharing works of art created by masters of manual labor who are capable of converting metal blocks into harmonic pieces.”
Last year, we featured the winner of the show’s custom bike races, this Yamaha WR250 street tracker from the Sotomonte brothers of Ace Custom Shop, as well as their custom Honda XR400.
For 2019, Marlon Slack of Pipeburn returned as the international guest judge. Marlon highlighted the incredible improvement in the quality of local builders, comparing the build quality with that of shows like Art Of Speed in Malaysia. He pre-selected the 30 bikes for the main show based on two criteria: quality of construction and level of modification. Then he spoke with each of the builders in the main show, judging the bikes based on these criteria:
Motorcycle image: How the motorcycle looks from afar and how natural it is perceived regardless of its style. What is that first impression? Does it attracts attention?
Finishes: The attention paid to the smallest details, such as brackets, joints, welds and any space between the assembled parts.
Technical skill: The quality of workmanship; for example, the quality of welding and wiring. All the work of cutting, molding and creation of original parts.
X Factor: Some motorcycles simply attract attention and this can happen without taking into account the factors mentioned above. Other bikes can be armed with bad welds and have spaces through which you could put your arm without problem. But something about them somehow manages to get attention and pull you to look at it.
Overall, there were 30+ custom bikes on display, 19 workshops, and 70 total bikes registered. Those customs that didn’t qualify for the main show were displayed in the CBS Experience.
Without further ado, here are the winning bikes from the show. In days to come, we’ll have more photos and info about each of these machines!
1st Place – Clav Custom Retro Garage
- Motorcycle Name: Hornet
- Brand: Honda
- Model: C90 Cub
- Year: 1994
2nd Place – Rockers Garage
- Motorcycle name: La Negra
- Brand: AKT
- Model: NKD
- Year: 2016
3rd Place – Lolana Motos
- Name of the motorcycle: La Caleña
- Brand: KTM
- Model: 400 EXC
- Year: 1993
CBS Experience Winner
- Builder: Isami Garage
- Brand: Harley-Davidson
Follow the Custom Built Show
- Web: www.custombuiltshow.com
- Facebook: Custom Built Show
- Instagram: @custombuiltshow
first thought on seeing the 1st honda c90 cub was the early ness digger style: long front, low, seat position biased to the rear. the girder fork helped in that transference. never thought that the ultimate lightweight digger would build on the honda c90! (now, just add a blower.)