Custom Bike Show
Norrtälje, Sweden - June 3, 2023
This was the 49th edition of the market's oldest custom bike show, attracting 3,500 motorcycles and 8,000 visitors from near and far to the Societetsparken in Norrtälje, northeast of Stockholm, the Swedish capital, and staged during Sweden's annual national holiday weekend.
The weather was great for this Twin Club MC organized, AMD Approved program one day show - the longest established of the AMD 'Affiliates'.
Riding to Norrtälje on the first Saturday in June has been a well-established pilgrimage for many tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts from across the region. For many it is the first excursion or longer trip of the year.
Visitors and exhibitors came from the all the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) Baltic nations such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and neighboring countries such as Germany, Poland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and more.
Almost 200 motorcycles participated in this year's competition, which included the H-D Chopper, Chopper, Custom, Racer, Classic and Modified standard classes plus Best Paint Job, Twin Club Jury and People's Choice awards.
The H-D Chopper class had the most competitors this year - nearly 70 motorcycles - with Finland making a 'clean sweep' of the prizes. Jussi "Lunkka" Lundelin from Helsinki won, ahead of Reijo Liias and Lars Lemberg. Reio also won the Twin Club Jury's award, with Lars Lemberg second. A total of nine out of 24 prizes went to customizers from Finland.
In the custom class, three motorcycle builder "celebrities" shared the three prizes - Kakku Karjalanen won with a motorcycle with a self-built engine, second was Petter Forsberg from Gävle with a racing-inspired build complete with long wheelie bar, and Claes Forsberg took third place with a more traditional, but very sober custom build.
This 'day-in-the-park' offers visitors more than just a motorcycle exhibition. As well as leading custom parts and accessory vendors, Juha Hintukainen from Bromma showed and started up the drag racer that he competes with in Europe and the USA - the engine is about 1500 hp and he reaches a top speed of about 350 km/h on race track.
On stage The Bluetonics and Emotional Fire entertained. For the hungry and thirsty there was a restaurant area with a large selection of regional and international food. As usual there was also a range of crafts to see with sheet metal forming, pinstriping, airbrushing and engraving.
Göran Larsson from Eskilstuna took home two prizes - Winner in the Racer Class and the Jury's third prize with a racing-built Excelsior from 1918.