Harley-Davidson Fatboy Completes 25 Years of Production

When one pictures a cruiser motorcycle in mind, the first motorcycle to fill the imagination is Harley-Davidson. The American bikemaker is renowned for its range of cruiser motorcycles with a thunderous sounding V-twin powerplant, loads of chrome and attitude. One of the most popular motorcycles in its line-up is the Harley-Davidson Fatboy. Legend has it that the bike was named after the Fat Man and Little Boy nuclear bombs that were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during Second World War. The Fatboy also made an explosive debut as it soon become the highest selling cruiser motorcycles in the USA market. 

The turning point for the Fatboy came when it was featured in a Hollywood movie that sealed its cult status. The movie in question is Terminator 2: Judgement Day and the scene in which Arnold Schwarzenegger jumps over a height of over 15 feet to save John Connor from T-1000 (the villain) is regarded as one of the best action scenes ever. Sales of the Fatboy shot up after the movie as everyone wanted to be a T-800 (Arnold’s character name) riding the Harley-Davidson motorcycle with dark sunglasses and leather jacket. The Harley-Davidson Fatboy now celebrates its 25th anniversary which makes it among the longest running production motorcycles ever. And what better to celebrate this occasion than the macho Arnold Schwarzenegger reliving the epic chase scene as he will be seen riding a Fatboy in the latest instalment of the franchise: Terminator – Genisys.

The Fatboy has to be among the distinctive looking motorcycles in the Harley stable owing to its round headlamp, beefy front forks, solid alloy wheels and the large fuel tank. Another design highlight of the bike is that it gives an appearance of a Hardtail (no rear suspension) but in reality there is a twin shock unit concealed making it a Softail offering. Powering the Harley-Davidson Fatboy is a 1,690cc displacement V-twin powerplant pushing out 132Nm of torque at just 3,250rpm. The motor is mated to a 6-speed cruise drive transmission. The Harley-Davidson Fatboy has been priced at Rs 15.08 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.