AME ST 802

Triggered by „Flowerpower, Woodstock and the War“, a generation has set out to free itself from the everyday gray and put an end to the omnipresent confinement and dreariness. Well-trodden paths are abandoned and the journey is declared the goal.

1969 is also the year in which the film „Easy Rider“ is released in cinemas. It gives the longing for freedom a new form of expression:
Motorcycling became the epitome of freedom and the visual design of the motorcycle became a means of expressing protest.

A motorcycle with a long fork and registration was previously considered out of the question in this country and most bikers left it at that. In 1973, four years after Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper dreamed of freedom and adventure as „Wyatt“ and „Billy“, people in Schauenburg in northern Hesse began seriously looking for ways to realize their own motorcycle concepts.

The first task was to obtain TÜV approval for extended standpipes. What was ridiculed as a hopeless undertaking ultimately had to be approved by the experts after the technical requirements had been verified by globally recognized testing institutes. The company „AME“, founded in 1973, had succeeded and paved the way for the implementation of new chopper projects.

In the initial phase of AME, the main focus was initially on providing extended fork stanchions for as many vehicle types as possible. The conversion work was usually carried out directly at AME, which strengthened personal contacts with chopper riders. The numerous discussions led directly to new ideas. Conversion parts were sought that would emphasize the individuality of the choppers. AME responded with a product range of special accessories, such as exhaust systems, footrests, tanks, seat benches, handlebars, risers, etc.

The range of conversion parts was initially aimed at people who were used to carrying out the corresponding conversion work themselves. Soon, however, there was demand for complete conversions and the workshop work of the AME technicians led to an additional range of services.

As it was and still is absolutely forbidden to make modifications to the frames of standard motorcycles, the options for converting them into a chopper were severely limited. This gave rise to the idea, the realization of which was to represent the greatest challenge of the still young company: The development of its own chopper motorcycle frame. At the time, there was no motorcycle frame in the world that could be replaced and had a technical certificate and approval for road traffic.

Just four years after the company was founded, AME was known far beyond the borders of Hesse and had branches in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich and Zurich.

Parallel to the construction of the branches, work was carried out on the realization of the first AME motorcycle frame. In close cooperation with the „Frauenhofer Gesellschaft für Betriebsfestigkeit“ (Fraunhofer Society for Structural Durability), what had previously been unimaginable became possible. After the basic principles for the ‚testing of a motorcycle frame while riding‘ had been worked out, it was the chopper frame developed by AME that was the first to be tested according to these newly defined criteria and met all the requirements placed on it. This was followed by correspondingly elaborate and stringent driving tests at the Nürburgring, which were followed by the granting of unrestricted approval for European road traffic.

Equipped with a long fork and the Honda 750 Four engine, the first German chopper left the company's production halls in 1977.

What began in 1973 with the production of extended standpipes culminated four years later in the realization of the new motorcycle brand „AME“. For the team around Walter F. Cuntze, the dream of a chopper „Made in Germany“ had come true.