Family business
Thunderbike Harley-Davidson Niederrhein wins in the German “Battle of the Kings” final
• Strict rules in the international “Battle of the Kings” customizing competition
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Thunderbike wins the national final and competes for Germany • This custom bike is a father-daughter project
(Neu-Isenburg, May 20, 2016) The idea is as simple as it is effective: In the “Battle of the Kings” contest, which entered its second round in 2016, Harley-Davidson dealers from Europe, Africa and the Middle East asked to to transform an Iron 883 into a strong custom bike. The catch: The machine had to be ready within twelve weeks, could not end up costing more than 16,600 euros and half of the parts installed had to be made by Harley-Davidson.
31 German authorized dealers took up the challenge. In a large online vote, five audience favorites emerged, who faced a jury of six specialist journalists in the national final on May 12th. The winner: Thunderbike Harley-Davidson Niederrhein . The reaction: tears of joy. Not only with the successful Thunderbike boss Andreas Bergerforth , but also with his daughter Kim because the Thunderbike Iron was the first father-daughter project in the Bergerforth house.
Kim's blood and she (of course) works at Thunderbike - but she has never customized a motorcycle before. When her father asked her at Christmas to create her first work with him, she was immediately hooked: “First we stripped the iron to the maximum,” says the young customizer , “then we sat in front of the framework for hours, creating parts We stuck with it and thought together about what would fit and what the whole thing could look like.” It was clear anyway that it wasn’t going to be a scrambler or a cafe racer – Kim always wants to swim against the current. But only gradually did the look crystallize, which is somewhere between chopper and drag style . Flex was added to the rear, the remains of a rear fender were mounted very low and a peanut tank was mounted very high, plus coarse tires, a high-flow air filter, a Zard exhaust and an upside-down drag bar handlebar - super cool! The extra-flat seat, the cover of which comes from a pair of leather trousers purchased on eBay, as well as the license plate holder and indicators are among the components from Thunderbike; the paint job was carried out by in-house painter Ingo Kruse.
Kim's Iron is not for sale (for now) because the builder has fallen madly in love with her work. No wonder!
Harley-Davidson congratulates and the German fans keep their Kim and Andreas for the grand finale in June, in which the bike competes “Custom King” “Wheels and Waves” festival in Biarritz . Contest fights.
Further information about Thunderbike can be found at www.Thunderbike.de and the website Customkings.Harley-Davidson.com will keep you updated about the competition.
Text copyright: Harley-Davidson Germany GmbH / photo credit Thunderbike
