A LEGEND IS FOUND
08 September 2004 - Harley-Davidson UK

UK’s Best Harley-Davidson Sportster 2004

Harley-Davidson UK’s search for a legend has come to a dramatic conclusion following the grand final at European Bike Week in Austria. Fourteen spectacular examples of the UK’s best Sportsters battled it out in front of 100,000 people during the last round of judging at Faaker See. And, after much deliberation from the judges, the prestigious title was awarded to proud owner Patricia Moss from Reading, who will now ride off on a brand new Sportster XL1200R Roadster.

The final took place on Saturday, 4 September and was one of a host of events including a 15,000-strong parade, stunt shows, fashion shows and musical entertainment staged during European Bike Week from 1-5 September. Situated in their own expo tent, the 14 motorcycles were on show for tens of thousands of people travelling from as far away as South Africa and the USA to admire.

A judging team including Jim Hoffman, director of Custom Vehicle Operations in Milwaukee, and Paul Barker, director of Harley-Davidson’s Parts, Accessories and MotorClothes for Europe, was tasked with finding a winner for each of the five categories before deciding who had the UK’s Best Sportster.

After two hours of careful consideration the title was finally awarded to Trish’s 1987 XL1200 motorcycle, nicknamed “Bewitched”. Trish, who is chapter director for the Thames Valley Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) was overwhelmed.

But no-one came away empty-handed. All the lucky finalists were treated to a three-day stay in the Corinthian mountains of Austria, where they were able to enjoy the exquisite scenery and take in the sights and sounds of “Europe’s Daytona” – which featured around 65,000 motorcycles. The five individual category winners each won a breath-taking helicopter flight over the Austrian landscape.

Paul Barker said: “The levels of customisation in this final round made our job as the judges extremely difficult. The finalists had taken such varied routes of customisation, and had accomplished such fantastic results in each case, that it was hard to compare them with each other. In the end, though, we had to pick a winner and the “Bewitched” Sportster stood out with its attention to detail, as well as its spectacular customisation, while still retaining the key characteristics of the Sportster motorcycle.”

The culmination of the ‘Do You Own A Legend?’ competition in Faaker See follows two rounds of rigorous judging spanning five months. Kicking off in May 2004, Harley-Davidson invited all Sportster owners in the UK to celebrate the Motor Company’s longest-running model family by entering their motorcycle into any of the five categories; giving all entrants a chance to show the fantastic levels of customisation that can be achieved on Harley-Davidson’s entry-level model family.

Results

Best Antique
1st – David Patmore – Walthamstow, London
2nd – Paul Thomas – Sedlescombe, East Sussex

Best Evo
1st – Jane Newman – Farnham, Surrey
2nd – John Turner – Bishop Auckland, County Durham
3rd – Christine Wilkinson – Wolverhampton

Best Brightwork
1st – Kevin Crossley – Highcliffe, Dorset
2nd – David Perryman – Leeds
3rd – Sandy Page – Tilbury, Essex

Best Paintwork
1st – Billy Pearce – West Dulwich, London
2nd – Sue O’Grady – Doncaster, Yorkshire
3rd – Kelvin Cramp – Essex

Best Custom
1st – Patricia Moss – Reading
2nd – Gary Ingham – Bradford, West Yorkshire
3rd – Martin Clohisey – Norfolk

Best Sportster UK 2004
Patricia Moss – Reading

The Sportster range starts with the XL883 at £5,195

www.harley-davidson.co.uk

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