The Battle of the Kings is where Harley dealers from around the world show off their custom bike making skills in motorcycle build-off, and for the first time since its launch in 2015, dealers from Australia and New Zealand will compete against impressive machines entered from all over the world including Europe, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, the Middle East and South America.
Voting for the top Australasian custom bike will open to the general public from 1st August 2018 at the official Custom Kings Website (www.h-d.com/customkings) and the overall 2018 Custom King to be crowned from the 17 dealerships competing from across Australia and New Zealand in September.
For the first stage of the competition, seventeen Harley-Davidson dealers from across Australia and New Zealand – including Hamilton’s Road and Sport Motorcycles and Auckland’s North Auckland Harley-Davidson – will go head-to-head with their one-off, two-wheeled creations.
The base for their custom creation must be a ride-away Harley-Davidson from the Dark Custom lineup. That means the only models eligible include the Street 500, Street Rod, Iron 883, Iron 1200, Forty-Eight, Forty-Eight Special and Roadster, as well as two models from the 2018 Softail range, the bare-knuckle Fat Bob and the bare-boned Street Bob.
Once crowned, the ANZ winner will take to the global stage going head-to-head in a showdown between the national champions to select the 2018 World Custom King. The ANZ finalist will also have their bike on display with the global finalists at the EICMA show in Milan, where the winner will be announced in November 2018.
Keith Waddell, Harley-Davidson ANZ Marketing Director commented, “Harley-Davidson dealers are no strangers to the build-off competition. This year the dealers are going to up their game with a focus on brand and product relevance for new and younger riders, showcasing the local talents and possibilities in bike customisation.”
Dealers have a maximum customisation budget of $10,000AUD ($10,863NZ) and at least half of the parts and accessories used in the build must be from the Genuine Harley-Davidson Parts & Accessories range. A final kicker in the challenge is that once complete, the bike must be approved as road legal – which will keep the final product nicely grounded in reality.
It should be an eye opener to see what the Kiwi and Aussie dealers cook up in their first foray into the competition, but let’s make it clear, we expect you to jump online and vote for your favourite Kiwi build to hopefully send them off to the finals!
