AUSTRALASIAN BATTLE OF THE KINGS
SEES KIWI DEALER IN TOP 5
T
he Aussies have pipped our hard-working
Kiwi dealers to the post and taken out
the annual Harley-Davidson Battle of the
Kings Australasian round with Gold Coast Harley-
Davidson taking out the feeder competition for
the global finals.
Taking place in our neck of the woods for the
second year, the Battle of the Kings competition
as always was decided via a round of online
voting open to the general public, with Gold Coast
Harley-Davidson’s Softail Slim “Hollister Riot”
winning over the masses to see the Gold Coast
dealer crowned the 2019 Australian and New
Zealand Custom King and moving into the global
finals.
Out of a total of 26 participating dealerships
across Australia and New Zealand, only one of the
six Kiwi dealerships who entered made the top
five finalists, with Christchurch’s Rolling Thunder
Harley-Davidson joining Morgan & Wacker Harley-
Davidson, Adelaide H-D Bike Works, and Sunshine
Coast H-D in the Top 5.
On top of the public voting, each finalist was
judged and scored against three categories –
character, styling and X-factor – by the Battle
of the Kings judging panel made up of industry
professionals and Harley-Davidson ambassadors.
Using a Softail Slim as the base model, Gold
Coast Harley-Davidson entered the “Hollister Riot”
into the CHOP category – one of three new design
categories implemented for the 2019 build off – to
create a masterpiece which pays respect to the
old Panheads and Knuckleheads of past years.
The most eye-catching modification has to be
the move to a springer front end, with custom
bars, a muffler based around those found on
from the 1930s era of Harley-Davidson featuring
a custom made 2-1 exhaust setup with old school
ribbing. Gold Coast Harley-Davidson also moved
away from the usual final drive and a chain and
sprocket.
The Milwaukee-Eight engine was also dressed
up for the occasion as a key feature in the
build alongside an original style solo saddle
seat slimmed down and a paint scheme that
26 KIWI RIDER
pays respects to Harley race bikes of the 1940s
completing the vintage look.
Interestingly, the custom build named “Hollister
Riot” is a reference to the Hollister Riot of 1947 at
the AMA Sanctioned Gypsy Tour Motorcycle Rally
in the town of Hollister California, where Harley-
Davidson enthusiasts gathered to party hard –
while the number 16 is a reference to Jimmy Chan,
who made history with his three consecutive wins
of the Springfield Mile and was inducted into the
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
Steve Schilling, Dealer Principal from Gold Coast
Harley-Davidson was excited and humbled with
their win, “It is absolutely fantastic to win, as the
competition was very strong, so to take out the
ANZ Battle of the Kings Crown is a credit to the
team involved from Gold Coast Harley-Davidson
as well as those who assisted with the build,
photos and video”, says Gold Coast Harley-
Davidson’s Dealer Principal, Steve Schilling.
Gold Coast Harley-Davidson will now go on to
represent Australia and New Zealand’s wider
Harley dealerships against other International
Winners of the Battle of the Kings Competition.
Four winners will be selected via online voting
from International markets, meeting the U.S.A
winner at the EICMA in Milan, Italy to battle it out
for Global Custom King title on centre stage.
The Winner of the 2019 Global Battle of the Kings
Competition will be announced this November.