Harley on Delhi roads: This fat boy\’s no slouch

Some 20 years ago,when Arnold Schwarzenegger made a gigantic bike jump in Terminator 2,an icon was born. Owning and riding the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy,since then,has been a sort of dream for biking enthusiasts. We have seen a few of those in India also—it’s just that they remained ‘few’ considering owning the Fat Boy not only required guts,but some R20 lakh in your wallet too.

Why is it called Fat Boy

For those biking enthusiasts for whom the Fat Boy is still an enigma,here’s a little note. An integral part of the Harley-Davidson Softail family,the Fat Boy is a big and strong motorcycle. It has a magnanimous frame mounted on two bulky wheels,and this stance,supposedly,gives the bike its name. Powered by a twin-cam 1,690-cc engine that produces a massive torque of 132Nm@3250rpm (Harley doesn’t give out engine power figures),this bike is a classic from the ground up. This mean machine boasts of wide footboards,chrome coated air boxes and textured metal. Its low,comfortable seating position makes it a cruiser to the core.

Now,Harley-Davidson has added the Fat Boy to its completely knocked down (CKD) line-up and this means a large cut in costs. Fully assembled at the Harley-Davidson facility at Bawal in Haryana,the bike now costs R14.9 lakh (ex-showroom,Delhi) as against the previous completely built unit (CBU) price of R19.45 lakh. Okay,now you don’t need R20 lakh in your wallet but you still need the guts,as I realised when last weekend I got a chance to experience the Fat Boy for a full day,which included a lot of inter-city trips (Delhi-Gurgaon-Noida) and some highway riding.

The ride

First,getting onto the Fat Boy is a challenge in itself. A kerb weight of 330 kg means it has to be handled very carefully. A true challenge,but not difficult. Because the Fat Boy’s large tyres provide enough footprint to make the bike stable (front tyre size is 140/75R17 and rear size is 200/55R17),you just have to hold on to the handlebars firmly for it to be on its own.

Then,once you fire the engine,you hear the characteristic Harley potato-potato sound,just that in the Fat Boy it is a little mellowed down,unlike,say,the Iron 883 that will practically wake up the whole neighbourhood if ridden early in the morning! The engine,though,isn’t mellowed down. Shift into the first gear,hear the distinctive clunk sound,hold onto the clutch,and release it gradually. The bike will move forward without you pulling the throttle. (Please note,with any Harley,or for that matter any litre-class motorcycle,you don’t open the throttle fully in the first gear.) Once your feet are on the footboards and you shift in the second gear,the bike surprisingly gets tamed. From then on,it becomes as simple as,say,riding a small Indo-Japanese bike. It’s just that the engine packs ample punch and comes fitted with a six-speed gearbox. So,from second gear on,even a little pull on the throttle means that the heavy machine surges forward like a cat possessed.

But then,where there’s power,there has to be control. The Fat Boy’s massive front and rear disks not only restrain the bike,being equipped with the anti-lock braking system (ABS) means that even sudden braking doesn’t send any shivers down your spine. Again,wide tyres,especially the rear one,help in controlling the bike.

As far as the riding experience is concerned,the Fat Boy irons out most road undulations,thanks to the long telescopic fork suspension at the front and hydraulic shock-absorbers at the rear. The problem with most Harleys is that they tend to scrape some speed-breakers on Indian roads. Although this generally doesn’t cause any damage to the bike underside,the biker’s soul does get hurt. The new CKD Fat Boy does,seemingly,address that issue. Assembled in India to be ridden on Indian roads,it glides over most bumps. But not all,as I found out during my ride. At least twice the heavy bike did scratch our speed bumps.

A true cruiser

Where the Fat Boy feels the easiest to ride is on the highways. After all,it is among the finest cruisers in the world. In fact,riding it on the highway is a journey no motorcycling enthusiast would want to miss. Once you have an open road in front,you can let go of your inhibitions,and any kind of fear,because the higher the speed,the more stable it becomes. And this Fat Boy is no slouch either. It effortlessly goes on to hit a ton,even before you are in the top gear. The surprising thing is that even at three-figure speeds,there are very less vibrations from the engine,and because few vibes are passing through your body,the ride becomes very comfortable.

No vibes,but yes,there are some gripes. First,because India is not a land of straight roads,and the roads in our cities are increasingly becoming chaotic,manoeuvring the Fat Boy in traffic is a task. It needs a relatively longer distance to turn. Then,squeezing it into tight parking spaces isn’t easy either. Although Arnie made us believe that the Fat Boy can jump,it cannot; in fact,it shouldn’t be made to jump! The best the Fat Boy feels is at a relaxed pace of 60-80 kmph where you not only enjoy the ride but also get an instant ticket to a stardom of sorts,as you grab the attention of each and everyone,wherever you ride.