Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/949296
Nods to the original include the solid wheels front and back, the iconic tank logo, and a brushed aluminum and chrome aesthetic. Art deco headlight tins, drilled metal pieces and an outrageous 240mm rear tire are nods to the original's groundbreaking style, in a 21st century execution. The Fat Boy was the second 114 I tried, and it was overkill in this bike, the most uneven handling of the bunch. Turn-in is easy, but once you get it over, you have to fight to get it to full lean, which comes fairly quickly; a side effect of all that rubber out back. You can get used to it, but after the superb manners of most of these bikes it was a surprise. Sometimes bikes with really heavy wheels/tires like this one will lose some suspension quality, but that doesn't seem the case here. The Fat Boy fit me well enough, with neutral bars and a moderately supportive seat. I FAT BOB The Fat Bob is the other bike of the new Softails that doesn't try to replicate the model that came before, but rather, redefine it. The prior Fat Bob copped a rough and tumble attitude and had pretensions of being the performer in the old Dyna line. This one doesn't play around. While the other models have tuned cartridge-style forks, this one has a charged inverted racing fork. It's also the only one with dual disc brakes. A thick seat puts the rider up and forward, which puts the small forward controls in a more aggressive position. A flat taper-style handlebar (like on a moto- cross bike) controls the front end. The whole thing has a very post-apocalyptic vibe, like it could show up in the next Mad Max movie unchanged and you might not notice. The list of details (like the oval LED light set into the forks, or bronzed patina on the exhaust pipes, or the "Harley-Davidson" scrawled on the inside of the rim) just goes on, it was obvious this was a labor of love from H-D's design department. And it works almost as good as it looks. The riding position puts the rider in the perfect position to be a hooligan, and the equipment will back that stance up. The bike turns quickly and predictably, and holds a line through corners. The high forward controls stay off of the ground quite well, meaning you can push this one pretty hard. The front is a little soft, but the high-end fork should be internally adjustable. The rear shock is externally adjustable via a hand crank, a feature shared with the wide tire Softails (Fat Boy and Breakout). There is an old saying about saving the best for last, and I managed that trick. This is the perfect merger of attitude and performance. On the other Softails, I liked the bad boys, but didn't want to ride them very hard or far; while the more respectable bikes just didn't feel like me, or handle the way I'd like. This one does it all, and I wouldn't change a thing. Except maybe opt for the 114. I CUSTOM BIKES Make no mistake, this bike will be a customizers dream. As I pointed out throughout the article, there are small changes I'd make to several bikes to fit me better. Given H-D's huge after- market (both internally and from other companies) all of these changes will just be the tip of the iceberg. Having a unified frame for all of Harley's non-touring models makes a world of possibilities open up. Just looking at the diverse lineup Harley-Davidson managed should give you a hint. To some extent or another, all of the parts are interchangeable. Listening to the other attendees at the launch you could hear people calling the exact same bike "stupid" or a "hoot." One would complain about the bars on the Breakout, while another pondered why they couldn't all be like that. With so much variation in ride quality and riding positions, it truly is like Harley-Davidson released eight bikes at once. Talking to one of the designers, he volunteered that his favorite bike was the one underneath all of the outer stuff. It was the Milwaukee-Eight, in the Softail chassis, because with that, he could do anything. CN CYCLE NEWS CRUISER BUYERS GUIDE