Harley-Davidson's showstopper: European 120th party brings Budapest to a standstill

The European celebration of Harley-Davidson took place in the centre of Budapest last month (June 22-25) and attracted over 100,000 people from more than 50 countries to mark the American cruiser brand’s 120th birthday.

Hosted at Puskás Aréna, visitors were treated to live music from the likes of The Darkness, Wolfmother, Don Broco and Airbourne, along with exclusive insights into Harley’s history.

Crowds loved the results of the Trailblazers competition, where six UK dealerships put their own custom spin on Harley-Davidson Pan America models, and marvelled at the custom bike show, stunt shows, demo rides, stalls, and amazing weather.

But the star of the show was the unveiling of the first two Harley-Davidson CVO models to hit the continent – the CVO Street Glide and CVO Sport Glide.

At an exclusive presentation Regional Vice President for Europe Kolja Rebstock introduced the bikes, before Consumer Product Portfolio Manager Matt Van Dyke listed the improvements and new features, which include an engine with VVT as well as comfort-enhancing tweaks, which Harley say make them ideal for European roads.

When asked whether the CVO updates will be rolled out to other motorcycles in Harley-Davidson’s current range, Rebstock couldn’t confirm but said ‘it was right to speculate’. So hopefully this isn’t the end of the line for these European-focused baggers.

The culmination of the event was a 7000-strong motorcycle parade through the centre of Budapest with locals lining the streets in celebration.

Led by Karen and Bill Davidson, fourth generation descendants of one of the firm’s founders, the procession featured riders from all over the world, including some of the 1500 attendees from the UK and Ireland.

But, with the American Harley-Davidson anniversary party soon to be held in their hometown of Milwaukee from July 13-16 and featuring Foo Fighters and Green Day as headliners, the anniversary celebrations aren’t finished yet.