In the pink

Creative imaginations were let loose on a spectrum of Harley models, with the top entries showcased along the marina

Words: Jeremy Pick

The Custom Bike Show at the 2025 European H.O.G.^® Rally showcased the continent’s latest custom creations. Top builders and enthusiastic amateurs alike competed for trophies against the spectacular backdrop of the Pula Arena Roman amphitheatre in Croatia.

Taking the overall Best in Show award and first place in the Radical Custom category was Italy’s Mirko Perugini of Gallery Motorcycles, Brescia, with his new build, “Lucifer”. Based on the 1942 Harley-Davidson^® WLA Flathead, the motorcycle shone in cream and red, with gold pinstripes glinting under the sun.

The Metzeler Judges Choice Award, chosen and presented by show sponsors Metzeler, went to Roberto Pellegrini of Italy with his performance bagger, a bike which also took the top prize in the Sport category. His creation is a great showcase of the current hot trend towards highly performance-oriented touring bikes.

Echoing an African proverb and embodying the spirit of the Harley Owners Group chapters, his eye-catching blue and orange tourer included the following inscription on a plaque under the saddle: “Il diasit seul on va plus vite, ensemble on va plus loin” (“He said, alone we go faster, together we go further”).

The overall People’s Choice award, collated from the votes given by the audience at the show, went to a non-professional build: an eye-catching pink-and-chrome Sportster^® from Germany’s Britta Feldwisch, the “Pink Lady”.

Other exceptional builds taking awards included Boccin Custom Cycles’, with a blend of the old and the new, representing the creativity of Venice in the form of a 1947 Knucklehead engine with a sculpted Murano glass tank, which took top prize in the Classic category; Ica Shlajferica from Croatia, who took the Cruiser category win with “Gentleman Jack”, showing off an amazing tank with embedded whisky and cigars; and Nicola Domeneghetti, who took the win in the highly-contested Tourer category.

Overall placings

Best In Show: Mirko Perugini, Italy
Metzeler Judges Choice: Roberto Pellegrino, Italy
Peoples Choice: Britta Feldwisch, Germany

Cruiser
Ica Shlajferica, Croatia
Gorazd Bikermaniac, Slovenia

Classic
Boccin BCC, Italy
Boccin BCC, Italy

Tourer
Nicola Domeneghetti, Italy
Axel Scherer, Germany

Sport
Roberto Pellegrino, Italy
Ica Shlajferica, Croatia

Radical Custom
Mirko Perugini, Italy
Ned A, Kuwait