31st Annual Biker Fest, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, May 18 - 21
Thousands of bikers descended on Lignano Sabbiadoro, on the beautiful Adriatic coast of Italy, an hour north of Venice, for the 31st annual Biker Fest from 18th to 21st May.
Sponsored by Bridgestone, the event is the brainchild of father and son team Moreno and Micke Persello, creators of the original Chopper and Custom Show at Padua back in the 1990s and publishers of leading Italian custom lifestyle magazine Biker’s Life.
For the 6th year, the ever-popular Biker Fest played host to the climax of the 12 city/event Italian Bike Championship, and as the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building Official Affiliate event for Italy, saw no less than four builders win 1,000.00 euro expenses to compete at ‘AMD XIII’ at ‘INTERMOT Customized’ in Cologne, Germany, in October 2018.
Over 100 bikes in total were on display at the impressive Terrazza Mare. Classes included Freestyle, Modified Harley-Davidson, Metric, Streetfighter/Sportsbike, Cafe Racer, Scrambler, Bagger and Old Style, and the three ‘Best in Show’ winners and ‘Public Vote’ pick scooping the ‘AMD’ prize money being put up by the show.
With a larger vendor presence at the event this year, an expanded additional “customizer” vendor area was set up opposite the Terrazza (in addition to the usual vendor lot at Luna Park) where there were opportunities for builders and custom shops to present their work - a new feature last year, this was again judged to be a great success.
Public attendance this year is put at over 35,000 riders, with exhibitors including Custom Chrome Europe, Motorcycle Storehouse, Free Spirits, Italian suspension specialists Andreani and Bitubo, Asso Special Bike, and motorcycle manufacturers such as Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycle, BMW, Honda, Aprilia, Ducati (Scrambler) and Moto Guzzi.
www.bikerfest.it
AMD World Championship Prize
Ema Custom Shop (Pistoia) - H-D XL 1200 (Best in Show Italian Motorcycle Championship)
VM Motorcycles (Udine) - H-D WLA 750
Gallery Motorcycles & H-D Luce (Brescia) - ‘H-D Legend’
Lari Motori (Vicenza) - ‘Robin’ 1999 Buell (19th in the AMD World Championship, Cologne 2016)
Freestyle
1 Asso Special Bike (Como) - ‘ATOMIC SNAIL’
2 Ferri da Miglia (Verona) - ‘H-D XL 1200’
3 Bike Garage (Chieti) - ‘10th Anniversary’
Modified H-D
1 Luca Turata (Verona) - H-D 1340
2 MC Cycles (Treviso) - H-D V-Rod
3 089 Garage (Salerno) - H-D Shovelhead
Bagger
1 Biker Sheriff (Treviso) - H-D Road Glide Special
2 MC Cycles (Treviso) - H-D Street Glide
3 American Dreams (Monza) - H-D Heritage ‘Chicana’
Old Style
1 Bob (Czech Republic) - H-D Sportster
2 Roberto Ligas (Treviso) - H-D Sportster
3 Number8 (Udine) - H-D Panhead
Café Racer
1 Mastercycles (Treviso) - Honda CB 750
2 WPR Officina 144 (Rimini) - Ducati Monster
3 Free Sound Customs (Lucca) - BMW R 1200 S
Streetfighter
1 Rebuffini M. (Bergamo) - H-D V- Rod
2 Peter Schmidt (Germany) - Suzuki GSX-R 1000
3 WRP Officina 144 (Rimini) - Ducati ST 4
Metric
1 Brunetti Elvis (Udine) - Honda CB 400
2 Motocicli Ignoranti (Varese) - BMW R 45
3 850 by Viky Bikers (Como) - Moto Guzzi T3
Scrambler
1 Ferri da Miglia (Verona) - BMW R 45
2 Moto Sport Ciot (Treviso) - Honda FMX ‘Flat T.’
3 Overdrive Customs (Venezia) - Honda XL 600
Best Emerging Customizer
Free Sound Customs (Lucca)