About the Harley Davidson Fatboy Softail Motorcycle

There is a lot of history attached to Harley Davidson motorcycles. This is especially true for the softail variant of the manufacturer's vast product range and even more applicable to the Fatboy softail motorcycle. As a matter of fact, the fame of the Fatboy witnessed a spike after the bike was featured in the ground breaking movie Terminator II. The reason why you might say that the Fatboy is one of the most historic Harley motorcycles is the way that people took to it when it was launched.

'Da Bomb

Right at the launch of the Fatboy, which happened six years after the release of softail bikes back in 1990, the bike garnered a lot of following. In fact, the launching of the Fatboy is considered by many to be one of the most curious yet effective marketing gimmicks of the last century. The "Fatboy", it is said, derives its name from the two atomic bombs that were dropped by the US on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. The names of the bombs were the "Fat Man" and the "Little Boy".

In addition to deriving inspiration from the names of the atomic bombs, the bike's design was also inspired by the B-29 bombers of World War II which were used to drop the original bombs.

Resultantly, the Fatboysoftail motorcycle can be distinguished from normal bikes on the basis of its 16 inch rear and front solid wheels. Notably, the Fatboy is the only model of Harley Davidson that is equipped with the above mentioned 16 inch solid wheels. Another distinctive calling card of the bike is the fact that the original Fatboy came in only one color i.e. grey. Everything on the bike was grey, whether it was the fenders, the fuel tanks, oil tanks or anything else for that matter. The coloring on the bike according to many sources is supposed to honor the B-29 bomber planes that were of the same color and even called Silverplate.

What's Up With the Stripe?

However, there was one distinctive addition to the bike's looks which has stumped enthusiasts over the last few years. This is the yellow strip that the special model of this variant carries on it. As per speculation by many experts of this bike, this yellow strip was derived from the design of the Fat Man plutonium bomb. These distinguishing traits of the bike were changed in later years of the bike's life with other colors being offered including two tone combinations.

Another milestone in the history of the Fatboy came in the year 2000 when the manufacturing firm introduced the redesigned version. The redesigned version of the Fatboy was introduced to incorporate Harley's recently introduced Twin Cam 88 V-twin. Still, over the 20 years that have passed since the launch of the bike, it has been changed very little.

As most of you already know, the Fatboy falls under the category of the softail motorcycle manufactured by Harley Davidsonbecause it is based around the softail frame whose purpose is to provide cover for the shocks near the rear wheel. The bikes are driven by an 80 cc Evolution V-twin engine. Moreover, this bike, like all other Harley variants, also uses the belt drive.