European Bike Week 2024 – bikes, drones and sunshine

The 26th Harley-Davidson^® European Bike Week^® was a show-stopper event with more than 70,000 bikes riding in for an unforgettable festival

If you’ve ever been to the beautiful surroundings of Faaker See, in southern Austria, you’ll know that everyone comes along to have a good time with friends new and old from the world over, at Europe’s biggest and best bike event. But sometimes an unwelcome visitor has turned up to dampen things a little too. Yes, of course, we’re talking about the weather. You don’t get to be nestled in Carinthia’s southern Alps without a little rolling thunder and heavy rain from time to time – but 2024’s event was actually blessed with sun. In fact, you could see the clouds rolling over the mountains and, while it regularly threatened a downpour, it never really materialised. So the chrome shone, and the party started as 100,000 folks turned up in the sunshine to celebrate the best of Harley-Davidson^® and European moto culture.

It seemed like the Harley-Davidson Plaza – the centrepiece of the event – was busier than ever, with people flocking to the H-D^® Expo at its heart and a wide range of bikes and accessories including some of the latest Model Year 2024 motorcycles such as the Street Glide^® and Road Glide^®. Visitors took photo opportunities as well as sizing them up for potential purchase. Right next door there was the opportunity to get a couple of static demo rides in too – courtesy of both Harley-Davidson with its Jumpstart, which allows newbies and seasoned riding veterans alike to feel the rumble of a live bike, but on rollers. Plus, motorcycle exhaust specialists Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde, live demonstrating their variable exhaust and sound technology with a Street Bob^® on rollers. Quiet when you want – roaring at the press of a button.

Harley-Davidson also took the opportunity to launch the 2025 H.O.G.^® Rally at the packed H.O.G. Zone – with a return to Croatia announced, this time to Medulin on the beautiful Istrian peninsula in northern Croatia. Fans of 2022’s event in Portoroz will be delighted to know that it’s just a few hours ride away. You will not want to miss this!

We’ve been told that an amazing 1,700 riders took the opportunity to live test the latest bikes at the Demo Zone – a testament to the popularity of the range, including an extended tour for the Street Glide and Road Glide series. The Adventure Zone also proved to be a bigger draw than ever, consisting of a technical off-road arena at the event entrance to the main site and a more testing off-road zone nearby to push the Pan America^™ 1250 Special a little and show what it can really do. Of course not everyone is familiar with off-road riding, so experts were called in from across Europe to provide demos, advice and tuition, giving visitors unparalleled access to riders like Italy’s Marco Belli, Stuart Day from the UK and Ralf Wiesenfeller from Germany, plus Harley-Davidson off-road ambassador and rally legend Joan Pedrero from Spain, who lit up both zones with some incredible stunts. And then went on to wow the crowd at the Bike Giveaway on Saturday night with space-defying burnouts…

One of the hallmarks of European Bike Week is undoubtedly the five nights of completely free entertainment, with two main stages hosting bands from afternoon until late throughout the week. The fire show also returned this year and was more spectacular than ever. If you haven’t seen it, imagine thousands of people looking on as flame-dancing experts twirl, throw and do acrobatics with lit torches. Actually, don’t imagine it – check out the gallery below to see it in action! New for 2024 was a spectacular drone-based light shows over the lake, which featured 200 drones taking to the sky on Friday and Saturday to illuminate the night sky.

One of the biggest highlights this year was an exhibit honouring the immeasurable contributions of designer, artist and living-legend Willie G. Davidson, with a unique showcase of some iconic motorcycles he’s influenced in the Classic Bike Display. And his son, Bill Davidson, was there to witness it – as well as meeting with thousands of Harley-Davidson owners and enthusiasts and signing autographs.

This year’s ride-in Custom Bike Show, sponsored by Metzeler, had more than 60 entries across six categories and a truly international feel. The Best in Show award was won by Thomas Emky from Germany, with the Metzeler Judges’ Choice award going to Max Biker, from the US. And with more than 600 votes cast by attendees, the People’s Choice Award went to Dejan Nikolić from Slovenia. Prizes were awarded live on stage by Harley-Davidson’s Bill Davidson and H-D Chief Commercial Officer Luke Mansfield, with Riccardo Falcetta representing Metzeler.

The week was rounded off on Saturday by the incomparable Harley-Davidson parade, this year sponsored by Dunlop. It took a slightly shorter – but no less scenic route – and yes, the weather held! Harley-Davidson estimates that around 10,000 riders took part, with plenty of chapter flags on display on the roads around Carinthia from Lake Faak through to Villach and Finkenstein. Closing out the festivities on Saturday evening the draw for a Harley-Davidson Street Bob took place; Maurizio Amoruso from Livorno, Italy won a Street Bob live on stage in front of a huge crowd at the H-D plaza, before the fire show and drone show returned for a finale.

European Bike Week returns from 2-7 September 2025, joining the European H.O.G. Rally in Medulin Croatia in June and the re-launched Euro Festival in May as headlines alongside many national Harley-Davidson and H.O.G. rallies. See you there!

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