American Motorcycle Design: Italian Bike Week

Italian Bike Week

Staging an 'AMD Approved' custom bike show at both the beginning of the season in May during Biker Fest and at the end of the season in September, at the same event venue in Lignano Sabbiadoro as part of Italian Bike Week, was an experiment - but it proved to be a success...

Text & photography Onno "Berserk" Wieringa - www.madnessphotography.nl

"Not only did we see many customizers bringing their newest custom bikes - different ones from those shown in May - but the public showed up in unexpectedly large numbers."

That had been the biggest concern - being in September, at the end of the holiday season in Europe (September 14-17) - would 'event fatigue' have set in and would "life get in the way?"

For some it may have done, of course, but almost 50,000 visitors turned out to prove that this new event concept does have great potential.

Best of Show, Mirko Perugini, Gallery Motorcycles

Staged at the May 'Biker Fest' venue of Lignano Sabbiadoro, north of Venice on Italy's beautiful Adriatic coast, the always busy Persello family is coming up with new ideas and concepts all the time. They are organizers of both Biker Fest in May and Italian Bike Week, and publishers of a slew of Italian custom and lifestyle magazines, including Bikers Life.

This new version of Italian Bike Week is something never seen before - based at a purpose-built temporary track where you can ride both your own motorcycle and/or ride a demo bike in the Adventure, Motocross, Off-Road segments.

"Yes," says Micke Persello proudly, "we came up with this idea because nowhere is it possible to book demo rides and compare different models and different brands at one place." So, the Italian Bike Week has a new feature, a huge off-road area where you can test ride the newest off-road and Adventure motorcycles. Several tracks are available, with brands like Triumph, Honda, Brixton, Yamaha, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Sherco, Beta, and more, including newcomer Rieju, all present and available with a demo-fleet of their newest off-road and adventure bikes. Demo rides were booked solid during the event.

Freestyle, Ironhead Sportster 'Ghisarama', Matteo Fustinoni

Café Racer Class, Verner, VM Cylces

In the 'AMD Approved' custom bike show, over 50 motorcycles competed, many never seen anywhere before.

In the Old-style class, it was the extreme H-D WL based chopper, with a 'seethrough fuel tank that incorporates the H-D Bar 'n Shield logo, that took the win - this is the bike that is dedicated to H-D's 120th anniversary (seen at Budapest) and named 'HISTORY' - built by Vito Klemencic, VK Custom Works, from Slovenia.

In Freestyle it was Matteo Fustinoni who grabbed first place with his Ironhead Sportster 'GHISARAMA' - a custom bike dedicated to the famous Lake Íseo speedboat manufacturer Riva and another famous Italian brand, Lamborghini.

Giacomo Giabalti (GDesign) scooped first place in the Scrambler Class with a Buell, while in the Bagger Class the win was taken by Slovenian builder Dejan Dolenc, who won with 'Touring Absurd'.

Old Class, 'HISTORY' built by Vito Klemencic, VK Custom Works, from Slovenia

Winner in the Metric Class was the Honda 600 by Giorni Samueli; in Café Racer Class VM Cylces, from the nearby town of Tolmezzo, received first prize; winner in Modified was Custom Tomm with his radical V-Rod; in Streetfighter it was the V-Max built by Motor Attitude.

A Special Prize went to Moto Danini, a home-built moped with Benelli engine, built in antique style.

Best in Show proved to be Italian builder Mirko Perugini, Gallery Motorcycles, with his own homage to H-D's 120th Anniversary - a fusion bike with old JD type inlet-over-exhaust (IOE) engine and high-tech wheels and front end.