2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year: Harley-Davidson Fat Bob 114

When Bikesales made the trek to California in 2017 to ride the completely overhauled Softail range – which also included some orphans from the discontinued Dyna family – there was no doubt the Fat Bob was the standout.

Harley-Davison said the Fat Bob "encapsulated all that is great about the new platform" and, after riding it with both the Milwaukee-Eight 107 and 114ci engines, I wasn’t going to disagree. It was my hero bike, for sure, in such a tactile and dynamic package.

The enthusiasm wasn’t just based on its sporty nature, but its ability to get the job done as an all-day machine with comfort and a fabulous blend of style and performance.

Form and function were both winners – but unfortunately the Fat Bob couldn’t be considered in our 2017 BOTY calculations as it went on sale after the September 1 on-sale cut-off.

That didn’t automatically mean it would be boss cocky in the cruiser category for 2018 – but that’s how it turned out as we didn’t feel there was another cruiser on the market with the flair and poise of the Fat Bob.

So what’s this new Softail recipe from Harley-Davidson all about? At the top level, it amounted to a "consolidation of the Big Twin cruiser platform" with the axing of the Dyna family. The Fat Bob, Street Rod and Low Rider all found new homes in that transition.

With the strategy sorted – Harley-Davidson was concerned that some of its product lines were becoming "too bunched" – the company then got down to the business of overhauling the chassis and engine platform for the entire Softail family.

The change was huge, with the new Milwaukee-Eight engine (the 107ci for everyone, while some models like the Fat Bob also had the 114ci option), better suspension, lighter and stiffer steel tubular frames, LED lighting, new instrumentation and a 'cleaner' look – serving both a functional and aesthetic purpose. Even a new sidestand!

Power- and torque-to-weight ratios both improved dramatically – the elimination of the old Twin Cam 103 engine obviously adding to the substantial performance gains – while other standard features included keyless ignitions and steering-head-mounted USB chargers.

The Fat Bob also has a cartridge-style 43mm front fork, as opposed to Showa's Dual Bending Valve setup for most of the other bikes.

Preload adjustment on the monoshock rear suspension is via a knob below the seat on the right-hand side of the machine.

The Fat Bob has the narrow Softail frame, while the likes of the Breakout and Fat Boy have the wider version to accommodate their massive rear hoops.

Disappointingly, there’s no span adjustment on either the brake or clutch levers – these should be cockpit fundamentals in 2018 – while on a more positive note the fat, open rear guard and custom contrast finish on the 2-1-2 exhaust are the two standout styling features in a taut-looking package.

The 2019 version of the Fat Bob is available in six different liveries: Vivid Black, Black Denim, Wicked Red Denim, Bonneville Salt Denim, Rawhide Denim and Scorched Orange/Black Denim.

Instrumentation is a combination of analogue and digital, with functions including time, rpm, trip meters and distance to empty.

As far as overall level of spec is concerned, don’t go hunting for an electronic smorgasbord on the Fat Bob. It’s not the bike’s caper, but there is ABS and Harley’s excellent alarm.

Oh, and just to reaffirm: we did give the cruiser gong to the 114ci version of the Fat Bob. As much as we admire the smooth, balanced and harmonic nature of the 107ci Milwaukee-Eight engine, the more powerful 155Nm 114ci version literally picks itself. Sheer grunt took the cake this time.

As the only one of the nine testers on the BOTY ride to have ridden the Fat Bob, I knew what was coming our way in Tasmania, as some of the roads we traversed in the hills above Los Angeles were very Apple Isle-esque: tight and twisty and with fairly impressive levels of grip.

And lo and behold, the first machine I found myself on day one when the roads started to get a little funky east of Launceston was the Fat Bob, with the Kawasaki Z900RS Café on my tail pipe the whole time.

It really is an exceptionally comfortable machine, and I guess the strengthening of that position came after riding the newest member of the Softail family, the FXDR, just before the Fat Bob arrived for BOTY duties.

The FXDR, as the most performance-focussed of the Softails, places the rider in a fairly aggressive riding position, while the Fat Bob isn’t as extreme and is a more accommodating option for a greater range of riders.

That’s not to say the Fat Bob is ‘soft’, as the bump-stop seat wedges the rider firmly into place, and with the narrow 16-inch Dunlop tyres, 28-degree steering angle and those twin discs working overtime, you’ll enjoy more freewheeling action on the Fat Bob than any other Softail.

And Tassie was proof of the pudding, as the Fat Bob was flung from side to side with some serious lean angle, for which the majority of the BOTY testers gave it a big wrap. It was a hoot.

It’s not easy to keep a wet weight of 306kg out of the spotlight, but that’s what Harley-Davidson has achieved with the $30,290 plus on-roads Fat Bob 114. The standard 107ci Fat Bob retails for $27,750 plus on-roads.

The 114ci Milwaukee-Eight engine is a gem. It all begins upstream with an extremely light and easy throttle action before that 1868cc twin is primed into action. It’s bursting with torque – a peak of 155Nm at 3000rpnm – but it likes to rev, too.

When you’re short-changing and riding that torque wave, the rev-happy nature of the 114 is sometimes forgotten, but on the few occasions when I stretched the Fat Bob’s legs it worked up a fair head of steam.

Average fuel consumption on BOTY for the Fat Bob was 7.0lt/100km, and it has a 13.6-litre tank.

The Milwaukee-Eight engine is also ideal for city work, as it’s so smooth and vibe-free, the gearbox is solid and the throttle response is crisp.

The Fat Bob may not be the Softail aesthetic king like the Breakout, or even the comfiest of the new Softails – the Heritage wins that prize – but for the ability to strike a rapport with riders from the outset I reckon the Fat Bob 114 stands alone.

The chassis, engine and suspension package in the Fat Bob hits all the right tunes, which not only makes it a massively versatile package but one where function and fun are always at hand. That combo is hard to ignore.

RELATED LINKS
• 2018 Bike of the Year: Intro
• BMW S 1000 XR HP
• BMW K 1600 Grand America
• Ducati Panigale V4 S
• Harley-Davidson Fat Bob 114
• Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports
• Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe
• KTM 1290 Super Duke GT
• Kymco AK 550
• Yamaha MT-09SP
• Getting there: Spirit of Tasmania
• The Motley Crew
• Fiat Ducato
• The top three
• BOTY in summary
• BOTY overall winner

ENGINE
Type: Air-cooled, eight-valve, four-stoke V-twin
Capacity: 1868cc
Bore x stroke: 102mm x 114mm
Compression ratio: 10.5:1
Engine management: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: Not given
Claimed maximum torque: 155Nm at 3000rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Belt
Clutch: Wet, multiplate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Steel tubular
Front suspension: 43mm upside-down forks, non-adjustable
Rear suspension: Monoshock with adjustable preload
Front brake: Twin discs with four-piston calipers
Rear brake: Single disc with twin-piston caliper
Wheels: Cast aluminium
Tyres: Dunlop D429 – 150/90-16 front, 180/70-16 rear

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Trail: 132mm
Claimed wet weight: 306kg
Seat height: 710mm
Ground clearance: 120mm
Wheelbase: 1615mm
Fuel capacity: 13.6 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $30,290 plus on-roads
Colour: Vivid Black, Black Denim, Wicked Red Denim, Bonneville Salt Denim, Rawhide Denim and Scorched Orange/Black Denim
Test bike supplied by Harley-Davidson Australia
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres