MILWAUKEE (November 5, 2019) — Following an intense global competition, including national and international heats, Laidlaw’s Harley-Davidson has today been crowned Global Custom Kings and overall winners of the 2019 Battle of the Kings.
Laidlaw’s Harley-Davidson’s winning entry,
the stunning “FXGTS Coast Glide” is based on a Harley-Davidson Sport Glide
model and has been extensively customized to create a truly unique ride. The
bike is a throwback to FXRT styling with a Southern California twist, paying
tribute to the Pacific Coast Highway and the Southern California influence on
modern performance cruisers. As a concept, it covers a lot of ground. As a
design, it’s far more than the sum of its parts. The team wanted full
functionality but with a strong California flair.
Battle of the Kings is the
world’s largest dealer custom build-off competition. The competition showcases
the very best in customization capability and the creativity of the Custom
Kings who can be found at every Harley-Davidson dealership globally. In 2018,
the Custom King crown was taken by debut-entrants Harley-Davidson Bangkok with
their Street Bob-based build “The Prince”.
For 2019 any model in the Harley-Davidson range could be selected as a base for the build (excluding Trike and CVO models) meaning dealers had more choice than ever before in order to create a title challenger. To further inspire the competition dealers had to choose from three style categories – Dirt, Chop and Race – for their build. The rules for the build were simple – 50 percent of the parts used must be genuine Harley-Davidson accessories and the customization budget was a maximum of 50 percent of the donor bike retail price.
The United States dealers added an extra dimension to their competition, inspiring the next generation of custom builders by teaming each build with a trade school, with students working alongside the dealership team to create and build their machine.
Grand final runners-up were Warr’s Harley-Davidson, The Crook (United Kingdom), Thunderbike Harley-Davidson, Roar (Germany), Calgary Harley-Davidson, Moonshine (Canada) and Harley-Davidson Queretaro, Joe Tracker (Mexico) – whose machines were all on display at EICMA for the tense final voting.
“Once again the global
Harley-Davidson dealership community has excelled at demonstrating their custom
leadership. This expertise is accessible at any Harley-Davidson dealership,
allowing riders around the world to truly make their ride unique. Huge
congratulations to all of our over 300 entries, the regional winners and
finalists – and especially to our 2019 champions Laidlaw’s Harley-Davidson. A
truly stunning build – and a worthy champion,” said Steve Lambert,
International Marketing Director, Harley-Davidson.
For information on the Battle of the Kings contest visit: www.h-d.com/customkings
