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Regenerated
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2007 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Mike Schulte
02/01/2007
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Photography by Riles and Nelson
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Harley-Davidson fired a 1340cc silver bullet into the
marketplace when it introduced the Softail Fat Boy in 1990. Crafted as a
high-caliber response to the low-cost Japanese imports that swamped the U.S.
market, the imposing “Gray Ghost”—with its metallic paint, winged USAF-inspired
tank logo and solid disc wheels—made a muscular and unapologetically American
statement. It helped Harley-Davidson recapture the sales leader mantle in the
750cc-and-up heavyweight division.
 Riding Style
Helmet: Shoei TZ-R
Eyewear: Ray Ban Wayfarers
Jacket: Tour
Master Coaster II
Gloves: Tour Master Summer Elite
Pants: Tour Master
Decker
Boots: Tour Master Response SC. (Click image to enlarge)
The Fat Boy’s market clash with the
Japanese bruisers, combined with its hulking World War II-era styling cues also
spawned the persistent myth that the bike’s handle derived from the “Fat Man”
and “Little Boy” bombs dropped on Japan in WWII. H-D posits a more benign
explanation—“Fat Boy” is actually an amalgam of “Fat Bob” and “Low Boy”, two
familiar Harley monikers. Nomenclature aside, the big-bore brute is a consistent
best seller in the Softail line and has become one of the most iconic American
motorcycles.
2007 looks to be a landmark year for Harley-Davidson, thanks to
the introduction of the 1584cc air-cooled Twin Cam 96 motor. Coupled with the
expansion of H-D’s six-speed Cruise Drive transmission, the TC 96/6 presents
a significantly redesigned, fuel-injected power train. With this newly sculpted
muscle under the saddle, the Fat Boy rolls out of the gym in ’07—bigger, more
powerful and, yes, fatter. Scott Beck, Harley’s Softail Marketing Director
describes the re-imagined Fat Boy as a “funky H-D statement.” The funk is
delivered via the new drive train and the totally redesigned chrome and leather
paunch.
The familiar hulk of the FL front end greets you like a weightlifter
in a court-ordered anger management program. The big Hiawatha headlamp is
mounted on a bare-knuckles-over-beer-cans chrome fork nacelle. The wide cruiser
handlebars are internally wired to clean up the beast’s appearance. The
signature cast aluminum disc wheels have grown an inch to 17 inches, and are now
shot through with a lethal spin-art .50 caliber bullet hole pattern.
The
rubber has likewise eschewed any notions of dieting. A 140 Dunlop rides up
front, balanced by a big 200 under a widened, chopped fender out back. The
two-up, two-tone leather seat has grown to accommodate the flowering American
hindquarters, and is trimmed with a trio of chrome bullets on either side of
the stitched valance. The triple shot theme continues on the matching leather
strap that runs atop new pinstripe graphics on the Fat Bob tank. The new
tank-mounted control panel includes a speedometer, clock, brighter LEDs and a
green “6” top gear indicator.
Firing up the Fatty provides
the re-engineered powerplant’s initial reward. While many of the revisions
were undertaken to increase the engine’s reliability and durability, traditional
H-D aesthetics were paramount as well. The Fat Boy’s dual shorty belch exhibits
no sign of potato famine. The spud rumble comes from the rigid mounted,
counterbalanced V-Twin that, along with rubber-mounted version for non-Softails,
represents the biggest new engine program in Harley-Davidson history. Although
the TC 96 visually resembles the TC 88 it replaces, the new generation workhorse
has over 700 redesigned parts. Displacement has been raised to 1584cc—from the
88’s 1450cc—by increasing stroke from over a third of an inch to 4.38 inches,
while the cylinder bore remains the same at 3.75 inches. Harley-Davidson claims
the Fat Boy’s new mill produces 90 ft lbs of torque at 2,700 rpm, an up tick of
15 percent from 2006.
The numbers come to life as you grab the horns
and plant your boots on the floorboards. Acceleration is smooth throughout the
powerband, thanks to substantially improved electronic fuel injection. The
emissions-friendly EFI works so well that Harley-Davidson has banished
carburetors from the remainder of its production line.
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