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Thinking of an 06 Fatboy, thoughts?

2K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  -Q- 
#1 ·
Buddy is selling one. Low miles, great shape and some simple mods. Thoughts? Would be my first Harley.
 
#3 ·
Go for it if you can get it cheap. They are mainly a bar hopper and will be good for putting around town on. I'd take one all day for that reason.

My Harleys of choice would be the Breakout for my bar hopper and the Road Glide for long distance touring. Still I have always liked the Fat Boy and also the Fat Bob. :cheers

I'm pretty sure they'll be a Harley in my future collection. :banana
 
#16 ·
Resale; the moment you realize how much you hate it and sell it is when you'll come to appreciate its a Harley. Metric cruisers have low resale values because no one wants them... Even if they are better bikes than Harleys they don't have the Harley badge, people shop for Harleys when they want a cruiser.
 
#9 ·
I’m not much of a cruiser guy, most of the guys I hang with have all moved on to Harley’s , they all try and get me to switch, the fat boy’s are nice bike except I can’t stand the ugly wheels they all seem to have the solid no see threw wheels are hideous in my opinion if I was to buy the fat boy I’d have to change the wheels!
 
#12 ·
If I'm buying a cruiser, it will never be a trash Harley. I'll buy an Japanese cruiser over those American turds. If I want American, it will be an Indian.
 
#15 · (Edited)
It depends on what you want to do with it (bar hopping, long-distance cruising, short distance, etc.)

It also depends on what your friend has to have for it.

If I were looking for a bar hopper, the fatboy wouldn't be my first choice, but it wouldn't be a bad one. With throw-over bags, it'll work for some weekend mid-distance touring, but not the best choice. I'd also try to stick with the M8 versions of the Softails, as they are far better.

Harley's get a bad rap, especially from fans of Japanese bikes, but the truth is, modern Harley's are pretty dang reliable. I've known several who've ridden 100,000+ with nothing more than regular maintenance. Harley's become unreliable when people try to mod them with crap aftermarket parts and try to make them something they're not - race bikes. The aftermarket support for Harley (and production support for that matter) is unmatched anywhere, by anyone.

I'll probably get flamed for that, but I've owned cruisers of nearly every brand made in my many years riding, including a Victory. I loved each one of them, and they all had their ups and downs. But for ME, Harley makes the best cruiser on the market, hands down.

ETA: For the record, '06 should be pretty cheap - last year for 5-speed, last year for 88-inch twin-cam, still has the crap tensioners (unless your buddy upgraded them). Use that for negotiation. I realize this is an old thread, and you've probably either bought it or passed, but just in case...
 
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