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. “Once again the global Harley-Davidson dealership community has excelled at demonstrating their custom leadership,” says Steve Lambert, International Marketing Director at Harley-Davidson. “Huge congratulations to all of our over 300 entries, the regional winners and finalists – and especially to our 2019 champions Laidlaw’s HarleyDavidson. A truly stunning build – and a worthy champion.”
California Dealership Crowned Battle Of The Kings Winner At EICMA
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n a special media-day presentation at EICMA, Laidlaw’s Harley-Davidson was crowned Global Custom Kings and overall winners of the 2019 Battle of the Kings. Laidlaw’s “FXGTS Coast Glide” is based on a Sport Glide, but has been extensively customized to create a truly unique ride.
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According to The Motor Company, 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 they called The Prince. 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. The 2019 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. For information on the Battle of the Kings contest visit: www.h-d.com/customkings