CHOPPERS, MOUNTAINS, ROCK & ROLL... THE 2023 PUNTA BAGNA SHOW STANDS OUT!
For the second consecutive year in Courchevel, France the show organizers have tried to better structure the organization around this mountain resort.
This year there was a new builders camp, new live music stage, new choppers place...
And they executed it flawlessly! Sadly, the dreadful weather on Friday & Saturday, with many rainy periods, ruined quite a bit of the party...
Rain never makes for a great motorcycle event but two bike shows still prevailed. One was a Chopper show and the other a Clubstyle that still took place.
The rain also gave a great excuse nonetheless to rock'n'roll, party with friends and talk about motorcycles. It turned out to be a really fun and exciting weekend none the less.
Fortunately for everyone, the sun came back for one of the highlights of the weekend: the Chopper run & Clubstyle run, a ride up the mountain.
Around 70 Choppers / Custom motorcycles rode 35 minutes on winding roads from the resort to the Courchevel Altiport. Once again, it was a beautiful and stunning show.
Punta is a free event with different custom contests during the weekend (Clubstyle, Choppers, baggers, gas tank paint contest) and a few awards such as best bobber, best chicano, best chopper, best paint and more happen.
Punta Bagna has been here for 14 years and the chopper scene has been here since the 60's. The custom culture is still very much alive. It's obvious that the custom culture is constantly reinventing itself, thanks to the new generation of builders and brands launching custom bikes inspired by the 50's, 60's and 70's.
BMW, for instance, had a big stand set up and a contest with their new K18.
Young generation builders specifically came forward for this one, such as Sebastien Grolière for instance who built a beautiful blue & gold shovelhead chopper or Charly M. as well, with a black & purple Ironhead chopper inspired by the 70's.
Many people here know about Vivi, who arranges each year the girl's run. It wasn't an easy one this year with this awful rain, but a small group of ladies enjoyed the mountain's crooked paths in spite of it all. Kudos to them and can't wait to see more and more ladies next year on choppers!
Winner winner!
Rollin on a show winner.
Winner of the master European Builder: DMC Toys 4 Men, from Italia with a incredible Shovelhead. Second place: South-Riders, from France, with a spectacular motorcycle "Purple Run" with chopper, racer, dragster and digger inspirations. Third place: Bike Farm, from Germany, with an Indian "Purple Haze" engine and brand-new technology inside the chopper.
Winner of the amateur Punta open contest, Karim Asghari, with "the Silver surfer" Shovelhead: he won a Harley-Davidson 1000 xls!
Purple Haze
Once again this year, professional and amateur contestants showed a high level of commitment and quality!
Next year The Punta Bagna turns 15 and will be held on the July 5th, 6th and 7th . This event is not one to miss so that’s why it’s time for you all, all over the world to put those dates on your calendars and come to the French Alps to enjoy the party!
-Words & Photos by: Mike Maurice
PHOTOS FROM PUNTA BAGNA 2023
Best Paint.
Best Chopper
PUNTA BAGNA 2022: A CHOPPER SHOW IN THE FRENCH ALPS
New year, new location, same event! As always, one of the coolest things about Punta Bagna is that all bikes in the show must run, and be ridden up the mountain to the airport at 2,008 meters (6,587') elevation.
12 years after the first edition created by Wild Magazine and ATM in two different French resorts (Valfrejus and Valloire), Punta Bagna has a new location at the heart of The French Alps: Courchevel.
One of the most iconic French mountain resort, famous for its ski frenzy, it's big mountain biking tracks, and known to be quite trendy.
But for this first weekend of July, it's not Gucci, Dior, cocktails and spas that take the spotlight but Choppers, Clubstyle, Mountain & Rock'n'Roll !
Since the early stages of the festival, the Punta Bagna has perpetually reinvented itself to now propose a European Clubstyle area and more and more partners with big brands such as Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycles and BMW.
Along with the exhibitors and artists who are located all over main street, there are 3 bike shows : Master Builder Chopper (for professionals), Open Bike Show and Clubstyle.
Each participant must display the fact that it's a bike that is fully operational. No fake bikes are allowed there! And each bike must register to ride from Courchevel resort to the Courchevel Altiport.
The judges (W&W cycles, CustomChrome, Harley-Davidson, Indian, Zebuth Garage...) then give them marks with the ultimate measuring stick: The Mountain Run!
After a few hours of sleep, on Saturday morning, everyone wakes up with a beautiful sunrise that says everything. "It's going to be a perfect day for the Mountain Runs!
First in line: Choppers. Imagine, at least 45 show bikes, from the Knuckleheads to the Evo engines, riding on winding roads and crooked paths, trying to reach the Altiport culminating at a height of over 2,000 meters. What a show!
And the payoff when one eventually reaches the altiport: an incredible view, surrounded by mountains. Fun fact, The Courchevel airport has one of the shortest runway in the world, with a gradient of 18,6%.
Big thanks to the Punta Crew for this experience! Every Builder had smiles on their faces and their smartphones in hand to capture those unforgivable memories.
At the end, every bike managed to reach the top and were eligible for the award ceremony on the following day.
Same thing for the Clubstyle with one extra rule, which was probably hard for some riders to commit, but no burn outs and no wheelings were allowed during the Run.
Last but not least, it was time for the Girl’s run. For many years, Vivi has organized a funky ride only open to ladies which seems to be getting more and more female riders participating over the years.
At the end of the day, it is time to party, live music, food, drinks with friends and builders/artists surrounding you. It's pretty much impossible not to have a good time!
On Sunday, everybody loads their sissy bars to go back home, ready to leave the Punta Bagna right after the Awards ceremony.
The best in show for the Open Bike Show went to the Belgian Steve Drieghe with his red knucklehead digger. He won an S&S engine by W&W cycles!
Best in show for the European Master Builders went to Stephan Grand of T4 Motorcycles with the "SG5". An incredible Panhead with a lot of details and home made parts.
He won some little gifts, just as all others final builders, but also a 1968 Ironhead Chopper Survivor imported from the USA. Congrats to all the builders!
This year we saw the first European Club style contest. It was something new and more popular with the new generation which. It was really cool to see so many Dyna, FXR and custom Sportsters that came out.
After such a presentation, you can only check the pictures, book a trip to France and prepare your bike to come to the party next year !
Remember, it's a free event, encompassed by huge mountains, with friendly people from all over Europe. Hope to see you at the next one!
-Words & Photos by: Mike Maurice
PHOTOS FROM PUNTA BAGNA 2022
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