National Winner
Building off a 2019 Sport Glide, Signature was Team Oude Monninks’ first foray into the notoriously competitive and prestigious Battle of The Kings. With painting cues taken from the sleek early ’70s Gulf Oil Porsche 917, the bike feels like an old-school racer with a serious dose of modernity. For the Netherlands, the design of the bike is surprising democratic, with everyone from the dealership getting a say and signing the bike with their unique signature, explained Bas Oude Monnink, a third-generation Harley rider and sales manager.
“When you go into a competition,” said Bas, “you never know what the other bikes will look like. We didn’t want to copy anybody’s style, and it turned out very unique.”
While Signature was not a semifinalist in the Battle of The Kings, Thunder Press decided to include it because of the sheer audacity of the build; it’s arguably one of the most unafraid and eye-popping bikes in the competition.
The slightly down turned and aggressive drag bars coupled with the stretched tank and spoked wheels make it easy to imagine leaning forward before gunning it down the strip. The hardest part of the five-week build was actually properly machining the speedometer into the tank, according to Bas. While the hand-wrapped exhaust was easy, building a custom frame for the seat and rear shock proved difficult…as did moving the battery and wiring back to let the block flex. In keeping with a streamlined aesthetic, the turn signals were wired into the frame.
“We weren’t going for a bagger or club-style bike, which are popular in the Netherlands,” Bas said. “But because we went this way, we are getting more aggressive custom orders based off the Signature design. The competition was a great experience for us to make a cool bike and promote it to a large audience.”
This is definitely a high visibility build and we are excited to see what is in store for next year.
Oude Monnink Motors is located in Borne, across the country from Amsterdam and near the German border. It was established more than 50 years ago, 1966 to be exact, and is the home base for H.O.G. Chapter North and East Holland.
