Strictly limited! The new Fat Boy Gray Ghost
Fifth model in the Icons Motorcycle Collection celebrates 35 years of fat custom style! The shimmering silver Fat Boy Gray Ghost is the fifth model in the Harley-Davidson Icons Motorcycle Collection. This new, strictly limited edition Icons model celebrates the first 35 years of the Fat Boy – a bike that made history and is one of the most recognisable names in the world of motorcycles. With a new glossy Reflection finish that makes the entire machine look like it has been dipped in chrome, the Fat Boy Gray Ghost pays tribute to a legend in motorcycle design.
As part of the Icons Motorcycle Collection, each year the Motor Company presents a strictly limited edition motorcycle model that reinterprets a classic H-D style icon. Each model in the Icons Motorcycle Collection is numbered and has special features that distinguish it from its production counterpart. Production of the Fat Boy Gray Ghost is limited to 1,990 units worldwide, with a recommended retail price of €30,700 in Germany, €36,500 in Austria and €36,500 in Switzerland.
36,500 in Austria and CHF 30,700 in Switzerland.
With the Fat Boy Gray Ghost, Harley-Davidson is celebrating the origins of the Fat Custom segment.
“In 1990, the original Fat Boy took the look, proportions and silhouette of a 1949 Hydra-Glide and combined it with the latest technology of the day to appeal to a new generation of riders,” said Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson Vice President of Design and Creative Director Motorcycles. “These riders appreciated our early post-war design DNA, but were also attracted to the clean and sleek contemporary industrial design.
At launch, the model was designed for a limited life. Contrary to expectations, however, the Fat Boy has survived three generations of engines and a complete overhaul of its Softail chassis, maintaining its original presence and inimitable style for 35 years.
Unique reflection finish
The Fat Boy is a bike for riders who want to make a statement. The Fat Boy Gray Ghost is part of the Icons Collection. It shimmers in the sun as if carved from a solid block of aluminium and polished to a mirror finish. The reflective finish is created using the Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) process, also known as thin-film coating. In this process, a solid material is evaporated in a vacuum and applied to the surface of a component – in the case of this car, the fuel tank and the front and rear wings. A positive charge is applied to the solid material (an aluminium alloy) and a negative charge to the motorcycle part. After the deposition process, the component is coated with clear lacquer.
In the past, Harley-Davidson has used the PVD process on small parts such as tank medallions and exhaust trim. The fenders and fuel tank of the Fat Boy Gray Ghost are the first time it has been used on such large parts of a Harley. The precision of the coating results in a unique finish that looks like chrome, but has advantages over conventional chrome plating. Most importantly, it meets H-D standards for corrosion resistance that would be impossible to achieve with a conventional chrome finish on these parts.
The frame is powder coated in a light silver colour and chrome side covers complete the glossy look. Styling cues inspired by the original Fat Boy include a round air cleaner, yellow badging on the lower rocker boxes, engine covers and tank console insert, a seat with lacing and leather tassels and a black leather tank strap with lacing. The three-dimensional tank medallions are also based on the winged tank graphics of the original Fat Boy model. The serial number is engraved on the tank console and there is a medallion on the rear mudguard to identify the bike as part of the Icons Collection.
The Fat Boy’s distinctive Lakester alloy wheels add to its stunning appearance. They are shod with Michelin Scorcher 11 tyres in sizes 160/60 R18 (front) and 240/40 R18 (rear).
Fat Boy Gray Ghost Gallery
The history of an icon
In 1990, at a time when the motorcycle media and the majority of motorcyclists were obsessed with ever more powerful sport bikes, the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy struck like a thunderous heavy metal chord. The Fat Boy was inspired by a custom bike based on the H-D Softail platform created at Harley-Davidson Montréal in 1987. Managing director Duc Dufour and workshop worker Denis Lavoie developed this machine and christened it the Lowboy. It had hidden rear suspension, an alloy disc wheel, a fibreglass front fender and wide handlebars.
Harley-Davidson manager Jerry Wilke spotted it and sent one to Milwaukee. The bike inspired the H-D styling team led by Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz to create the Fat Boy.
“The wheels are the most important feature of the 1990 Fat Boy,” says Davidson in his book ‘100 Years of Harley-Davidson’. “We wanted to create a distinctive look with the disc wheels. We took it to the next level with a solid silver paint job and a silver powder coated frame. Now that the whole bike was silver, we needed something even brighter to set it off.
So I added yellow trim to the rocker boxes, clutch cover, ignition cover and ignition switch. We built a prototype Fat Boy and took it to Daytona to get personal feedback from the riders.
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More InformationNo other manufacturer would have had the chutzpah to call a motorcycle Fat Boy.
“You might be wondering how we came up with the name Fat Boy. I’ve heard a lot of stories about it, almost all of them untrue,” says Davidson. “Here’s the real story: it’s not easy to come up with a name that’s as memorable as it is popular. We were looking for something unusual, maybe even irreverent, and there’s something cool about poking fun at your own products from time to time. To me and many other insiders who had seen the bike, it just looked really cool. That’s how the marketing people came up with the name Fat Boy.
Fat Boy models in the mirror of time
1990: Fat Boy debuts in a single colour: Fine Silver Metallic. It is powered by the rigidly mounted Evolution V-Twin engine.
1991: The Fat Boy becomes even more famous thanks to its appearance in the film “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”. Arnold Schwarzenegger rides it through Los Angeles in a dramatic chase scene. The film became a worldwide blockbuster and helped establish the Fat Boy as the Harley-Davidson brand in many markets, particularly in Europe. One of the bikes used in the film is now part of the collection at the Harley-Davidson Museum.
2000: The Twin Cam 88B engine with balancer shafts is used for the first time on Softail models, including the Fat Boy.
2005: The limited edition CVO Fat Boy, powered by the 103 Twin Cam, is produced for two years. Styling highlights include modified rear suspension, steel pan style seat, chrome cover behind rider seat and new Metal Grind finish with three paint options.
2010: The Fat Boy Lo’s seat height is lowered to 24.25″ thanks to modified front and rear suspension and a lower profile seat.
2016: Powered by the mighty Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110, the Fat Boy S is available in Dark Custom styling.
2018: The Fat Boy is one of eight revolutionary Softail models based on an all-new chassis with rear monoshock and Milwaukee-Eight V-twin engines with twin balancer shafts. Although the styling is new – a massive front end with a new headlamp shape and a wide 240 rear – the bike is obviously still a Fat Boy.
2020: Harley-Davidson celebrates its iconic motorcycle with the introduction of the Fat Boy 114 30th Anniversary Limited Edition. Limited to 2,500 units, the anniversary Fat Boy features a dark finish with bronze accents and is powered by a Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine.
