Leopoldsburg is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg and every year for the past 14 years, this biker has gotten to headline and enjoy the Harley Days weekend. Last year, I arrived early on Friday which is setup day for all the vendors from around Belgium and Europe. Opening of the Harley Day’s camping area as well as the main organization stand and show stands are all buzzing with activity as folks ride in and register in town at the market place.
The Federation Harley-Davidson Clubs Europe has lots of different national Harley-Davidson clubs and the Leopoldsburg HDC holds one helluva party. There are bike shows and bike races as well as stands from across the bike industry. Custom builders and tire companies as well as accessories and biker swag stands are all around the center of town. The one thing I always love in Belgium is the characters. The faces you see in these photos captured by editor-in-chief of Bigtwin Magazinein Holland Fritz Van Duinen and Mitch of Easyriders.
Day two started out with an amazing breakfast buffet with spek an eier (in Flemish), which is bacon and eggs in English. It was yummy and cooked in a special way done only in Belgium. After breakfast over 500 bikes assembled in the center of town for a 50-kilometer tour of the roads around the city. I went on this morning ride and it was outstanding as Belgium is a beautiful country with rolling hills and many old churches and architecture to see. We returned to the site of the event in the city about 4:00 p.m. and the festivities began.
I grabbed a cold Belgian beer, the finest in the world I might add, and went to the main stage for sound check to headline later that night at 10:00. We had some dinner at one of the many restaurants and had a famous meal called “steppegras” which is essentially a big fat steak smothered with special sauce, veggies and fries all around it in the same sauce. In fact organizer Andre Cuestermans’s father, a chef, was the inventor of this wonderful delicacy. After washing down this delicious meal with some Leffe beer we were ready to perform for about 1,000 bikers.
It was a brilliant night with a three-hour show from my band which included my original bass player of 18 years, Murf Martin, who came to do part of my European biker tour, and the opening bands that started in the afternoon were all great too. I highly recommend this event if you are touring Europe in July at the end of the month (this year’s event is July 27-29. Belgium is a small country in the heart of Europe, right next to France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. The Harley Davidson Clubs are real bikers too, just hard working-class men and women who bring their bikes all together every July for one wild weekend in Harley Town.
Check it out and put it on your bucket list of Savage Roads destinations. For more info go to hdleopoldsburg.com or call Andre Cuestermans at +32(0)475628177.
Very informative and interesting my Brother…… i shall return..😎💪🏻⚔️