Voted most helpful review
Reviewed on September 18, 2006
While this is my first Harley Davidson, it's far from my first bike. I've been riding since age 9 working my way up from dirt bike to the street with progressively bigger bikes each time. I've wanted a Harley pretty badly since about 1991 but could never either afford it or bring myself to spend...
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While this is my first Harley Davidson, it's far from my first bike. I've been riding since age 9 working my way up from dirt bike to the street with progressively bigger bikes each time. I've wanted a Harley pretty badly since about 1991 but could never either afford it or bring myself to spend this much money on a motorcycle. Until now, a motorcycle has always been a 3-$6000 toy, this is an investment that will be kept for many years. Let's start out with the styling of the bike. It has remained essentially unchanged styling wise with only a few exceptions. The upgrade to chrome on the new front fork nacelle is a nice feature and the studded seat and tank strap are fairly pleasing to the eye. The color selection available is varied as always on the Fat Boy including some odd two-tone color selections this year. I chose the Pacific Blue Pearl after seeing it on a Softail standard but the White-Gold and Fire Red are equally nice. Now for the bad news. Whoever designed the "custom graphics package" should be fired along with the person who hired them to do that. The "graphics" are gaudy, ugly and clash with the overall appearance of the bike. I was seriously considering a 2006 Heritage Softail but was struggling with the goofy baseball-pennant-looking tank graphic. When I decided to make the jump to the Fat Boy and wait to see what 2007 had to offer, the graphic on the heritage didn't seem quite as ugly anymore. These two "graphics" were probably the brainchild of the same guy at HD. This in my opinion was a very bad call. It's on the top of my priority list to somehow be able to afford a new paint-job or paint set. Mechanically speaking, the bike is a wonder so far, and that is why you actually look past 1st year graphic art student new hires at HD and buy a bike. While I never had to suffer through the lack of a 6 speed gearbox or an under-powered TC88 struggling with roll-on at highway speeds, I can tell you this engine/tranny combination is pretty solid. My last bike had 130 rear wheel HP so there is no comparison there, but this bike has all the torque and power anyone would really need. I did a 300+ mile highway ride the week before last and you really will never see 6th gear until you hit 70+ miles an hour and at 70 the RPMS are way low. The roll-on power for passing trucks etc was very sufficient as well. The only power train complaint I could think of was the chatter of 5th gear which has subsided quite a bit since break-in. I'm told it's due to the actual gear being made of a different material than the others and it's normal. Either way, you get used to it and it lets you know what gear your in. The 6th gear LED indicator on the console is awful nice too. Smoothness on the road is unmatched by any bike I've ever been on. This is due in part to the nice big FL front end and oversize tires on front and rear. The look and feel of the new 200mm rear is very pleasing. You can also thank the incredibly comfortable stock saddle for the ride quality. You can go for miles and miles without pain or soreness in your backside. The only serious issue with the bike to date has been regarding the offset of the front fender. For some reason, when the front forks are bottomed out, or compressed for shipping like in my case, the fork collides with one side of the fender causing a dime sized dent and effectively removing the paint from the dent. Since it's not a real safety issue and Harley has promised to replace the fender and fix the problem it's not a big deal. In fact, you can't see the fender ding unless your looking for it as it's behind the fork. Overall, I've been incredibly impressed with this machine and that's saying a lot. I have trouble wanting to get off the bike and I keep finding excuses to make my ride last just a little longer. The bike costs a lot so you had better be happy with it. I can say with confidence that I am very pleased with my purchase and look forward to the many miles ahead. One side note though, if your a bike trailering, dime-store guy in designer leathers: It's hard to look tough riding with a big grin on your face so consider a different bike.
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