07 August 2026

Fat Boy fun

Harley-Davidson has never needed to say “it’ll be back” because the Fat Boy never went away.

More refined and a little less weighty, it’s still the cool, grunty monster made famous by the now former governor of California.

Skinny boy Paul Browne remains enthralled.

 

“I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.”

 

It was 1991 and a very young version of me, long before I’d gone anywhere near a motorbike, had just been to the cinema to see Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

As well as a muscly Austrian-American, the movie also starred a motorcycle.

The bike in question was the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and I’ve wanted one ever since.

Star billing

Arnold Schwarzenegger was the really scary T-800 killer robot from the future who actually turned out to be the good guy.

He rescued the hero of the story while shooting at the bad guy – a newer model killer robot – with a pump action shotgun which he reloaded by spinning it in his free hand while riding the bike with a pillion sitting on the tank.

All of this during a chase in a dry river bed that involved a Mack truck.

You might be able to put in a 2.02 lap of Mugello, but I bet you can’t do that. Please don’t try.

But, for me, it was the Fat Boy that was the movie’s star.

Back then it had a small, 1,337 cc V-twin engine that would have put out somewhere in the region of 50bhp.

Thanks, in some part, to the movie it became a living icon of American motorcycling and, perhaps, even US motor history.

The bike has remained a solid fixture in the company’s range ever since and while evolution has changed so very much about the bike, it’s still very much a Fat Boy.

These days it boasts a whole lot more in terms of power and technology.

What might have helped Arnie would be the new cornering ABS and traction control.

Fat Boy slims

The weight is lightened by the use of LED lights all round while the Drag Slip Control stops the back of the bike spinning out, particularly on take off.

Power is up, as is the size of the engine.

At 1,923cc the Milwaukee Eight is substantially bigger than the original and benefits from both air and liquid cooling.

It also puts out over twice as much power with 105bhp and a rather wonderful 170 Nm of torque on tap.

The details are still true to the original as all this tech is ‘hidden’ in the machine.

Those chrome Lakester wheels have such a presence that the bike could only be a Fat Boy.

The chrome detailing, which is everywhere from the headlamp nacelle to the rear indicators complements the bike’s gloss black bodywork. The ‘beer can’ covers on the forks frame the ‘solid’ wheels perfectly.

There’s an unregistered one with some mileage on it available from Waterford Harley-Davidson.

Give Mo a call on 051 844200 and try not to say “I’ll be back” before taking it on a test ride…

Our best Harley-Davidson insurance quotes? Call 0818 945 950.

 

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