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Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

The Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, is a popular V-twin softail cruiser motorcycle with solid-cast disc wheels. Designed by Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz, Harley-Davidson built a prototype Fat Boy in Milwaukee for the Daytona Bike Week rally at Daytona Beach in 1988 and 1989.Fat Boys produced from 1990-2017 are coded FLSTF, and FLFB (& FLFBS) from 2018.

The name is said to come from the bike's "massive presence", and that the name gave a link to the earlier Harley-Davidson 

History & development

The Fat Boy's frame is derived from the 1984 "Softail" which appears to have a rigid hardtail chassis but which in fact has a swinging arm with concealed springs that was originally designed in a Missourian garage in the 1970's by "a mechanical engineer" named Bill Davis and later Patented in 1976.Willie G the grandson of Harley-Davidson co-founder William A. Davidson originally turned down engineer Bill Davis' softail concept; but the company later relented, buying the rights and designing its own softail frame in-house.

• After 1994, the Fat Boy was fitted with a seamless exhaust.
• In 1996 the master cylinder and switch gear were revised.
• 1999 saw a new Twin Cam 1450cc engine for the 2000 model year. This necessitated a bespoke engine variant and changes to the frame to account for the new engine.
• In 2002 bullet-style indicators, alarm and immobiliser were added.
• In 2005 a "15th Anniversary" version was available with a "Screamin' Eagle" engine and extras including special paint and custom wheels.
• In 2006 the engine was upgraded to a larger twin cam 1584cc model and a six speed gearbox.
• The 2010 "Fat Boy Lo" FLSTFB had the lowest ever Harley seat height.
• The 2018 Fat Boys have a redesigned softail frame with Showa front and rear suspension and new twin-counterbalanced Milwaukee-Eight engines. 

The two 2018 variants comprise:

• The FLFB 1,746 cc (107 cu in) with 109 lb⋅ft (148 N⋅m), 
• The FLFBS 1,868 cc (114 cu in) with 119 lb⋅ft (161 N⋅m)

The 2018 Softail frame has a modified swingarm with a Showa rear monoshock suspension mounted beneath the seat (replacing earlier twin shocks). So as to provide a more comfortable and better controlled ride with improved handling, the front forks contain a Showa "Dual Bending Valve" (SDBV), a cartridge simulator using two valves to control compression and rebound damping, giving linear damping characteristics proportional to fork stroke speed. Harley-Davidson claims the 2018 chassis is stiffer and lighter than earlier Softail and Dyna platforms. Further upgrades include an LED headlight and 18-inch “Lakester” rims, with wider 160mm front and 240mm rear rubber.

Media appearances

The Fat Boy gained mainstream visibility via the Terminator 2 and Terminator: Genisys films. One of the motorcycles used in Terminator 2 is displayed at the Harley-Davidson Museum. A Fat Boy has also appeared in Sons of Anarchy, Wild Hogs and CSI: Miami