American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 176 March 2014 | Page 55

MICHAEL Naumann is a very competent custom bike builder, employed
by Thunderbike in Germany, the winner of the 2012 World Championship
of Custom Bike Building. However, Michael also builds bikes by himself,
and as such entered King Bling into the Freestyle class at the 2013 World
Championship in his own name and placed in the top twenty

G

ERMANY has proven to be one of
the countries that has really
taken to the big wheel
phenomenon, with some of the
country’s top builders, such as
Thunderbike, Rick’s Motorcycles and Fred
Kodlin, all continuing to build with ever
larger wheels. However, many of the bikes
being built have only used a large wheel at
the front, retaining a stock sized rim at the
rear. However, Thunderbike employee
Michael Naumann, who builds in his own
time as well as at the shop, decided he would
take a different view on the big wheel build
idea and use 23in rims at both ends of a bike.
The result is King Bling.
Michael’s starting point was a 1958 Panhead
frame. This was cleaned up and then prepared to take
air suspension from Independent Choppers. At the
front the forks compress so much that the sliders stop
just below the lower triple tree. The trees themselves

www.AMDchampionship.com

AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - MARCH 2014

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