The people have spoken

The Custom Bike Show at European Bike Week celebrates unique creations, and the proud owner of a dazzling Softail^® Slim reveals what it was like to receive the People’s Choice Award

Words by Jeremy Pick

One of the highlights of the annual European Bike Week^® is the Custom Bike Show, where builders from across Europe showcase their creations and put them under the scrutiny of judges and the public. The main categories are judged by a panel of industry professionals, representatives of the bike show sponsor Metzeler and fellow builders, who nominate the category winners, from which the Best In Show is selected. However, one category – the People’s Choice Award – is decided entirely by public ballot.

Last year’s winner was Dejan Broz Nikolič from Ljubljana, Slovenia, whose striking creation, vividly highlighted in gold and based on a Softail Slim, received more than 600 votes from attendees. Dejan is a professional photographer specialising in fashion, and this was his first attempt at winning a prize at European Bike Week, making his award all the more impressive.

“My journey with bikes began when I was a young boy,” explains Dejan. “I was influenced by the 1990s US TV series Renegade, starring Lorenzo Lamas as a bike-riding fugitive bounty hunter, and that started a burning desire in me to own a chopper. Like so many other kids that age, my mother wouldn’t even entertain the idea of me riding a motorcycle, so the dream had to be put on hold for a while!”

Realising that life’s too short to not follow your dreams, a few years ago, Dejan and a couple of friends decided to get their motorcycle licences. “I knew that even if I only owned a Harley-Davidson^® motorcycle for a year, I’d be happy.”

His first bike, and the start of his custom bike journey, was a Breakout^® 103, bought before he had completed his bike licence. That was swiftly followed by a Road King^®, and both bikes soon morphed into quite different rides, with the Breakout getting an all-chrome makeover and the Road King getting a contrast-cut custom look.

A Softail^® Slim soon followed and Dejan began researching customisation options. “At first, I had the idea of doing something with copper finishes, but then I had the idea to take things one step further by using gold. A search on the internet gave few results for such a customisation option and so the idea was born.”

To complicate matters, Dejan decided that all gold finishes on the bike had to be genuine 24 carat gold. No one in Slovenia was prepared to tackle the job of gold-plating multiple screws, fasteners and brackets, so Dejan turned to a craftsman in Belgrade, Serbia, who specialises in gold plating for monasteries and churches. Gold rims were sourced and the gold finishes were highlighted beautifully by the rich red mural paintwork.

“My philosophy has always been that bikes should be ridden not displayed, and so I’m happy to see that my bike gets a great response from people every time I go out for a ride,” says Dejan. “It’s great that people love the bike. Of course, I must thank the amazing people who helped along the way with paintwork, seats and the multitude of jobs needed to get a custom bike to this level.”

The People’s Choice award was presented live on stage by Harley-Davidson’s Bill Davidson and H-D Chief Commercial Officer Luke Mansfield, with Riccardo Falcetta representing Metzeler.

“Receiving the award, especially at an official Harley-Davidson event, made me so happy, and I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me, as well as Bill Davidson for awarding me the prize and Metzeler for making it all possible,” says Dejan. “Also, I’d like to thank my mother, who now finally knows that I own three motorcycles!”

Dejan would also like to thank…
Erik Smerdel Custom Paintworks, Urban Kovac engraver and SMS gold plating.

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