First Ride: 2010 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Special

To be fair this is little more than a standard Fat Boy with a different paint scheme and lower suspension and seat, but who cares. The Fat Boy is, in my opinion anyway, the ultimate Harley. The Special gets a covering of satin chrome on its wheels and oil tank, black bodywork and few millimetres off its seat height, which is now 680mm.

To ride it feels like you image a Harley would, a relaxed upright riding position, comfortable footboards with a ‘heel and toe’ gear change and a lovely thumping motor. We rode around the Black Mountains area of South Dakota and it fits in here perfectly with the flowing roads and relaxed pace of life. On the Fat Boy you can kick back and watch the scenery cruise by while the motor, which is the same 96 cubic inch unit as the Dyna, chug away below. On the bends it’s solid, assured and remarkably effective considering it has, to the non-Harley rider, very odd sized tyres.

The front is a 140-section, which isn’t much off a modern sportsbike’s rear!
There is a reason why film stars such as Arnie turn to the Fat Boy when then need a cool bike in the flicks, it’s an icon and in the new moody black paint scheme looks even better than ever.