One of the enduring characteristics of the AMD World
Championship is the stage it provides for the most
unlikely platforms - bikes, generally older models, that
would never normally appear in a conventional custom
bike show fit right in at the 'AMD' - a home for craftsmen for
whom 'conventional' just doesn't cut it.
Of the many such travellers down the road less travelled in 2018 was
Swen Weber (SW-Customs, Bochum, Germany) and his outstanding 1970
'Simson Phantom 3' - a remarkably modified Simson KR51/1 'Schwalbe'
(Swallow) two-stroke scooter that had been a mainstay of the factory at
Suhl in Thuringia (in the former East Germany), from its first iteration in
1964 through to when the factory retired the design in 1986.
Originally known for four-stroke motorcycles (branded AWO), at its 1960s
and 1970s peak, Simson produced up to 200,000 two-stroke mopeds,
scooters and motorcycles a year and employed more than 4,000 people.
The company could trace its origins back to 1856 as a steelhammer
works and at various stages produced a wide range of goods, including
cars, early bicycles and guns.
32 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - OCTOBER 2020
www.AMDcha