• Omar Jumiran of Eastern Bobber has won second place in the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building.

• Omar’s creation, Bone-X, beat out tens of other custom bike builds.

• The trip and entry to the AMD at Intermot was sponsored by Motonation.

Omar Jumiran of Eastern Bobber has been crowned the First Runner Up the prestigious AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at the Intermot Show in Cologne, Germany.

Omar’s creation, Bone-X, was the winner at the 2017 Motonation Custom Ride Championship event in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Judging was performed by AMD Showmaster, Neil Blaber. Bone-X beat out all other competitors’ bikes and earned Omar a place at the AMD finals in Germany.

Bone-X Eastern Bobber’s Two-Wheeled Sculpture

Motonation funded the customizer and Bone-X’s trip to the show.

Bone-X had breezed through the preliminary rounds at Intermot and was among the Top 10 finalists. Judging was conducted by other builders’ and carefully chosen VIP judges. Points were awarded for creativity, execution, finishing, among other criteria.

Omar’s bike came in second after the points were tallied. The winner was “Insomnia” built by Russian customizer Dmitry Golubchikov.

Where to from here?

Malaysia is full of motorcycle customization talents but they have operating “underground” for many decades due to lack of recognition, not by fans, but by certain governmental agencies. A number of these customizers had almost nothing to live on but by their insatiable passion to create wonderful works of art on wheels.

Shows such as Art of Speed and Motonation (to a smaller extent since they are new) have brought these builders and their creations to the fore but there is still much more that needs to be done, because more publicity is needed. And publicity costs money.

Omar Jumiran’s success at the international stage will spur the authorities and private entities to pay more attention to the Malaysian custom motorcycle scene in both local and international events.

• Omar Jumiran from Eastern Bobber is now competing in the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building 2018.

• The championship is currently taking place at the Intermot Show in Cologne, Germany.

• Omar and his creation “Bone-X” has made the Top 10 as this article is published.

Omar Jumiran of Eastern Bobber fame won the custom bike show at Motonation 2017, earning him a place at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building 2018 (AMD). The AMD is part of the prestigious Intermot Show in Cologne, Germany.

Eastern Bobber wins best custom bike at Motonation 2017!

Omar’s entry in Motonation was called, “Bone X,” a radical custom framed bike built around a 1967 AJS single-cylinder engine. Apart from the engine, the parts on the bike were entirely self-fabricated and welded without the benefit of CNC machining or robotic TIG welding. But the most radical aspect has to be the suspension, featuring a centre-steering hub front end and a plunger-type rear end. The spring and shocks are located on top of the frame’s backbone in order to suspend both ends.

The result is a skeletal-looking motorcycle, hence the name “Bone-X.”

Bone-X Eastern Bobber’s Two-Wheeled Sculpture

Omar Jumiran had been dreaming of entering the AMD for the past 30 years and now his dream has come true, thanks for Motonation who fully-sponsored his entry and trip to Germany.

The veteran builder had seven months to fully prepare his bike, spending some RM 80,000 in the process. Bone-X was shipped out from Malaysia in July and arrived safely in MalProC Germany’s (Motonation’s group of companies) warehouse. The bike was delivered to the competition last Tuesday among entries from 45 countries.

Organized by AMD Magazine, the judging system in the AMD is unique as it is known as “Peer Group Review.” As the term suggests, the competitors themselves plus a few carefully chosen custom industry VIP judges and past competitors review other competitors’ entries, thereby ensuring open, honest and fair judging.

AMD’s intention is to reward motorcycle design and engineering quality, with the premium on originality and hand-craftmanship. All builders are required to provide a “Run Test Video” to be eligible for competition.

Bone-X is entered in the “Freestyle” category as it does not conform to other classes such as “Custom Harleys,” etc.

Omar and Bone-X have made the Top 10 when this article was published. He has done Malaysia proud regardless of where he finishes, but let us put together our prayers and wish him the best.