Progress with the Fat Bob

It was great to get a couple of solid, several-hundred-kilometer-long days under my belt on the fatty a few weeks back.

As I mentioned BEFORE the trip I had the seed of doubt sewn in my mind as to the long distance comfort of the Harley after a 400km day a few weeks before I left.
  • Was it because the fatty is setup differently to my street bob?
  • Was it because the seat is not diamond stitched and doesn't have the same 'give'?
  • Was it because I've been spoiled comfort-wise on the beemer?


Truth be told my ass goes numb sometimes on the beemer too but I just stand up. And any real riders will know you can push through little pain when you need to. But was that the issue with the fatty? Not moving around enough? I wouldn't say I was losing sleep but it was playing on my mind.

But after a couple of solid days I'm pleased to say that I CAN do decent miles in a day on the fatty. I've previously done the Great Alpine Road in a single day, it was just over 950km and while I was hurting at the end it was easily doable. That's the goal now.

ON the recent GAR trip I really only had 3 gripes.
  1. The luggage I used was woeful, every large bump would slide the magnetic bag forward against my back. It also scuffed up the clear coat quite a bit (but I don't mind that so much). It will be easily remedied with another roll bag similar (well more than likely the same) as the Kuryakyn Custom Roll Bag I ran on my old Dyna.
  2. My Crank breather solution still vents a bit of frothy brown gunk. Even with the catch can it still froths out the vent holes. I need a better catch can, I also need to try using a smidge less oil (though given its not puking Oil I doubt that's the issue). UPDATE: I think this was a combination of one of the hose clamps not being tight enough and the way I was clearing out the catch can. I am pleased to report I have done 1500km without any oily water blowing all over my bike.
  3. My Bars/Risers combo is too narrow and low. Man I hate them, short trips and aggressive riding they are great but after 8 hours on the road I was feeling the low bars in my shoulders. I could get my body in a comfortable position but then my arms would need to stretch to work. I also have the quote on the bars install. I still have a few parts myself to get. The switch for the Legends was over $300 so I won't be taking that approach. I'll keep running the static progressives for the foreseeable future as I'm starting to get used to the firmer ride.



With the addition of a X-grip for my phone I've been able to run a few auto tune rides on the bike now too, its definitely helped and its smoother and pulls harder now and doesn't appear to get AS hot in stop/go traffic. I've also noticed that after a clean of the K&N filter (it had 10,000km on it) the bike is pulling like a teenager with a lingerie catalogue and with the recent switch from HD shit to Spectro goodness in the tranny and primary its shifting like butter.


I have a slight confession:
With the ease of maintenance of the harley so far and the enjoyment i'm getting from doing it myself it did cross my mind to explore life with two Harleys instead of the current BMW/Harley combo but it was only a thought. And thinking isn't cheating right???

Besides I'd probably reap the same benefits if I serviced the Beemer myself.

Until next time..



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