HARLEY-DAVIDSON ANNOUNCES ATHENS DEALERSHIP AS WINNERS OF 2016 ‘BATTLE OF THE KINGS’ COMPETITION

• Winner selected by expert judging panel at ‘Wheels & Waves’ custom lifestyle event in Biarritz, France
• Harley-Davidson Athens’ custom Sportster® Iron 883™ took inspiration from ‘Nyx’ - the Ancient Goddess of the Night

This year’s winning bike, built by Paschalis Tsalamagkas and Yannis Kourougiaouris, was chosen from a total of 12 finalists by a panel of custom experts.

The team from Harley-Davidson Athens wanted to build a café racer that took inspiration from the Ancient Goddess of the Night – a shadowy figure of power and beauty. Viewed from the rear, the bike resembles a snake and from the front a panther, both creatures of the night. The deep gloss black paint with hints of silver flake allude to a starry night sky.

211 dealers from across Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) competed for the title of top custom bike builder for the 2016 winner-takes-all contest based on customizing the all-new Sportster® Iron 883™.

The contest was a two-stage process, with the first stage being a national online voting competition generating over 65,000 votes to establish the winning national ‘Custom King’ in each market, culminating in a head-to-head contest between the national champions and the presentation of the prestigious award today at the ‘Wheels & Waves’ custom lifestyle event in Biarritz, France.

The judging panel of this year’s ‘Battle of the Kings’ competition included: Gary Inman, Sideburn Magazine; Thor Drake, See See Motorcycles; Fabrice Roux, Moto Heroes Magazine; David Borras, El Solitario; Jerome Alle, Southsiders Motorcycle Club and Michael Spaeth, Consumer Segment Lead Outreach at Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

The iconic Sportster family has been an American motorcycling icon since 1957. It is one of the most popular Harley-Davidson model ranges for customization in the new wave custom scene and, like its predecessors, the new Iron 883 represents the ideal blank canvas to demonstrate the customization skills of the Harley-Davidson dealer network.

Paschalis Tsalamagkas, Harley-Davidson Athens, said: “When we first decided to do this build we never expected to get this far. It’s an honour to be crowned Custom King for 2016 and I want to thank the team back in Greece and everyone who helped us on this project.”

“We were excited to see how our dealerships were going to raise the bar for this year’s competition and it’s safe to say that we’ve been blown away by the creativity and attention to detail of the competing teams,” said Mike Johnstone, Director of Marketing Operations for Harley-Davidson EMEA.

“Building on the success of last year’s ‘Battle of the Kings’ contest, we received over 65,000 votes this year and secured participation from 211 dealers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The standard of all 12 finalists was exceptional but the judges selected the Athens dealership’s build due to the inspiration story behind the final bike and the sheer attention to detail.”

“We’re thrilled to be back at Wheels & Waves festival once again to announce the winner of the ‘Battle of the Kings’ competition. Harley-Davidson has been the leader in customization for 113 years and the event has provided us the opportunity to showcase our custom heritage alongside some of the most exciting up and coming bike builders,” said Johnstone.

Designed to inspire individual expression through easy customization, the Iron 883 is one of the most popular Harley-Davidson Sportster models. The new Iron 883 is powered by an 883cc Evolution V-Twin engine tuned to power away from stop lights. Drawing inspiration from garage-built bobbers past and present, the Iron 883 is intentionally rough and rugged around the edges and compromises on none of the Harley-Davidson brand attributes of individuality, rebellion and freedom. Dark Custom is the underground, contemporary face of Harley-Davidson; stripped-down and styled with an authentic retro-inspired slant, Dark Custom bikes feature matte or blacked-out finishes, vintage cues and accessible pricing to attract new entrants to the brand.

For more information on the Battle of the Kings contest visit: www.h-d.com/customkings