Greece - 12 Points
Harley-Davidson Athena from Greece wins the „Battle of the Kings“ customizing contest
- 211 participants from 12 countries, 12 finalists at „Wheels and Waves“
- International jury of experts selects the contest winner
(Neu-Isenburg, 17.06.2016) 211 Harley-Davidson dealers from Europe, Africa and the Middle East took part. 12 custom bikes were named the best in each country via online voting by 65,000 fans and national expert juries. However, only one of them was able to help its creator to overall victory. Now the champion of the big 2016 customization competition from Harley-Davidson and he comes from Greece: Harley-Davidson Athena from the capital was crowned the international „Custom King“ at the „Wheels and Waves“ festival in Biarritz.
The jury of six experts had no easy task, as all 12 bikes that made it to the final represented customizing at the highest level. The judges were amazed at how sophisticated and elaborate the twelve finalists were, as the customizers did not have an easy task to master. The task for the mostly young up-and-coming talents was to create a Harley-Davidson Iron 883 to convert. An ideal basis for letting off steam creatively, as it is reduced to the essentials as a „dark custom“ bike. The catch: each bike must ultimately be offered for sale - for a maximum of 16660 euros!
With extreme attention to detail, the black beauty from Athens finally prevailed against the machines from Germany, England, France, Morocco, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, the Czech Republic and the Benelux region. The Athenian cafe racer goes by the name of „Nyx“ - in Greek mythology the goddess and personification of the night, an awe-inspiring figure full of grace and power. Anyone looking at the bike will recognize clear parallels! „When we decided on this look, we never dreamed we would get this far in the contest,“ said a delighted Paschalis Tsalamagkas from Harley-Davidson Athena. „We feel honored and I would like to thank the entire team back home in Greece who worked on the project.“
The „Battle of the Kings“-The second edition of the contest took place in 2016 and, as in the previous year, the final was held at „Wheels and Waves“ in Biarritz. The atmosphere at this event of the „New Custom“ motorcycle scene once again proved to be inspiring for everyone involved. Harley-Davidson not only showcased its long history in customizing, but also presented the 12 current Custom bikes also impressively demonstrates the creativity of the new generation of bike builders at its dealerships. Further information can be found at.
Text & image credits: Copyright Harley-Davidson
