Bill Davidson at European Bike Week 2022
The European Bike Week 2023 will take place from September 5th to 10th, 2023.
Reserve your accommodation at Lake Faak here now…
At first it was just a rumor and on Wednesday it became clear that Bill Davidson would be at the European Bike Week He was last at Lake Faak in 2019 with his sister Karen. As we know, Harley-Davidson is celebrating the spectacular 120th Anniversary Party in Budapest next year. There was already some information about this in advance, he will also be in Budapest in 2023 together with his sister Karen and will celebrate this milestone in Harley-Davidson history with us in Budapest.
The European Bike Week 2022
Finally there was really something going on at Lake Faaker See, this year's event doesn't really come close to 2019, but it was still a success again in 2022. The weather was perfect except for Thursday morning and Friday. On Saturday the knot was finally broken, even when the parade started, there was a traffic jam all the way to the train station on Faaker See.
It was like old times, where it looked like this most of the week. The dealers have expressed very positive feedback, but the strong and sometimes hour-long controls by the financial police (customs in our case), which sometimes even required training certificates from employees, are not for the faint of heart.
Despite the savings from Harley-Davidson, who didn't set up a big stage this year, there was plenty of action, let's see if we see European Bike Week back to 100% in 2023.
El Diablo Low Rider from the Icon series
Harley-Davidson has flown in a pre-production model of the El Diablo from the Icon Collection especially for the European Bike Week. There are only 1,500 models of this model worldwide and in Germany almost every Harley-Davidson dealer will only get one, so it's just something to look at rather than buy. It was even nicer that you could see them live at Lake Faaker See.
It's a very special bike with the serial number "0001" that they have on display there. I'm curious to see what they do with it, because it's not going on sale and it doesn't actually exist. Unfortunately, the recently announced APEX paint series hasn't been seen yet, so we'll probably have to wait a while until it can be seen in Germany.
The BIKE SHOW went ahead despite hailstorms!
Friday wasn't really that good for us, the hailstorm during the bike show didn't have to happen, but the award went ahead anyway, which was right in my opinion. In the end, ASSO from Italy dominated here, which should be an incentive for the German customizers to stand up to the Italians next year.
Otherwise, a wide range of cool conversions could be seen.
Winner Custombike Show European Bike Week 2022
| TOP AWARD Mirko Perugini (Italy) = Best in show / People's choice / Category Winner – Classic |
| CLASSIC Runner up = Peter van den Barselaar (Netherlands) |
| SPORT Runner up = Nicola Domeneghetti (Italy) Nicola was also winner of the Metzeler's Choice Award Winner = Asso Special Bike/RP Motorcycle (Italy) |
| CRUISER Runner up = Jasmin Staub (Switzerland) Winner = Hanspeter Zauhar (Austria) |
| TOURER Runner up = Dejan Dolenc (Slovenia) Winner = Asso Special Bike (Italy) |
| ADVENTURE & OFF ROAD Runner up = Stefan Sintschnig (Austria) Winner = Michael Betz (Germany) |
| RADICAL CUSTOM Runner up = Martin Ortner (Austria) Winner = Asso Special Bike (Italy) |
On Saturday thousands of bikers came to the Harley meeting at Lake Faaker See
On Saturday the knot finally broke, great weather and the European Bike Week Parade thousands of bikers to Lake Faaker See to cruise for 2 hours through the Carinthian region past countless onlookers. Partly made comfortable on benches and chairs, waving the Carinthian flag, the biker parade passed them for a good half hour.
The parade was great again!
According to official figures from Harley-Davidson and the authorities, this year there were 80,000 visitors, 50,000 Harleys and 10,000 at the European Bike Week Parade.
The parade started as usual at the Harley sculpture at the roundabout, and the weather was great. Thousands of machines, led by the police squadron, made their way to Villach and the Carinthian region. The parade starts as scheduled and lasts about 2 hours. It took a good half an hour for the parade to pass you by.
Combine the European Bike Week with tours
My tour this year for the European Bike Week went via Prague, to the Top Mountain Crosspoint Museum in Tyrol and over the Dolomites. I always find great routes that, combined with a day tour, really round things off. There are so many ways to combine all of this to spend a few wonderful days with friends and in the Harley world.
