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With more than three decades of experience as a bike builder and 13 years as a bike show judge, Jeff Starke was determined to establish the IMBBA as an organization that would identify a point system that could be used worldwide to recognize the craftsmanship and skills, knowledge and talent employed in quality bike restoration, rebuilding, and radical from-the-ground-up customization.
Lessons learned from years of judging the Rat’s Hole bike shows paid dividends in identifying the unique pattern between a quality bike built by a knowledgeable, skilled and talented bike builder.
Many of the top bike builders in the USA and Canada almost immediately embraced the point system developed by the IMBBA, which was then used to create and implement a certification process for builders and skilled technicians.
This became the IMBBA trademark, recognized by builders, who appreciated that finally an organization had put the whole picture together taking into account that the experience builders utilize in building/resorting/creating is the sum of knowledge earned in their career or lifetime. And as such, points could be awarded towards a professional certification equal to and reflective of the points applied in judging their motorcycles in bike shows.
All IMBBA judges strictly adhere to a straight-forward set of published guidelines used to award points, and all IMBBA judges go through a training apprenticeship, judging bikes alongside founding president and chief judge, Jeff Starke. The judges use trade standards to award points that define the bike’s “Fit, Form, Function & Safety.” An apprentice judge does not become certified to judge IMBBA bike shows until his point scores match the other judges within one point in every category. To further reduce the margin, every bike is independently scored by three judges and the final points are a summation of their point evaluations. Using the point system published in the judge’s training manual, builders can go over their bikes with the judges to clearly see what points were awarded for physical attributes, as well as the sum of skills needed to assemble, fabricate and engineer each motorcycle.
The following year, the organization began Phase II, networking with top builders around the world to share information about the standardized point system and certification program. As a result, the IMBBA began forming relationships with builders in a growing number of other countries.
As an international community of bike builders and industry professionals, the organization’s members vowed to leave the industry better than the way they found it through education and training. This mission is being accomplished by the IMBBA through authoring and endorsing educational books, designed to share the membership’s knowledge, skills and wisdom with a younger, aspiring generation of bike builders and other industry craftsmen. An IMBBA training curriculum is currently being utilized in two counties and in five motorcycle mechanic technical schools.
The IMBBA is now working to extend its basic training curriculum to provide much-needed after market product instruction and training certification courses. This will ensure, for instance that a technician fully understands how to install a product that replaces a Harley fuel injection system because he is S&S-BDT Certified; or may help an aspiring bike builder land a job out of high school because he or she is Baker Transmission certified.
The IMBBA continues to raise the bar of excellence in the motorcycle industry by challenging builders to compete in IMBBA Bike Shows and be fairly judged; and by challenging young professionals in the industry to gain additional knowledge and training in order to become certified at numerous levels of competency: Associate I & II; Technician I & II; Bike Builder I & II; and Master Bike Builder I & II
Beyond Master Bike Builder, the IMBBA awards additional points to iconic bike builders, who have extended their legacy by giving back to the industry via guest appearances, charities, sponsorships, and mechanic training. When a Master Bike Builder’s additional points become equal to their certification points, they are nominated for induction into the Hall of Fame. The IMBBA Board of Directors then weighs the nominee’s contributions and votes on whether the builder has earned Hall of Fame status.
The IMBBA currently has certified members in 10 countries and a growing number of IMBBA judges capable of judging bike shows around the world, using the standardized point system. Member-representatives have been helping to spread the IMBBA story since 2005, and continue to help other tradesmen become certified. The IMBBA point system is aimed at globally strengthening the industry by rewarding performance and accomplishment, and ultimately by rewarding charitable giving within the industry. That’s the IMBBA Way!
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