Iconic British motorbike manufacturer Triumph is pitting its UK dealerships against each other and inviting them to customise their hugely popular Bonneville Bobber model.

In a move straight out of the Harley-Davidson playbook, dealers are encouraged to modify a standard Bobber using a combination of official Triumph accessory parts and their own creativity and engineering skills. Just like Harley’s long-running Battle of the Kings competition, the inaugural Bobber Build Off Challenge will be judged by the public, who can vote for their favourite at Triumph’s UK website.

Triumph has chosen its 13 favourites, developed by dealers Jack Lilley Ashford; A1 York; Bevans of Cardiff; JS Gedge; Bulldog; Glasgow; Pure Triumph Wellingborough; Triumph World Chesterfield; Triumph East London, Phillip McCallen, Peterborough Triumph, Laguna Ashford and Laguna Maidstone. Each of these customised bikes was displayed at London’s trendy Bike Shed Show last month, alongside Triumph’s TFC (Triumph Factory Custom) versions of the Thruxton and the new Rocket 3, as well as a modified Speed Twin, designed by the Bike Shed’s Anthony ‘Dutch’ van Someren.

Rick Cawley, Triumph’s Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Europe said: “Since its launch, the Bonneville Bobber has proven to be the most popular Triumph motorcycle for personalising. We launched the competition to not only showcase the customisation and engineering skills of the Triumph dealer network, but to also demonstrate that choosing genuine Triumph accessories is the ideal way to personalise your ride.” 

Details of each bike can be found on the site, and voting closes at 10am on Thursday August 29. The three most popular machines will be judged by a ‘celebrity’ panel.