American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 248 March 2020 | Page 12

Getting Fatter? 30th Anniversary
BRIEFS Fat Boy
NEWS
Riverside Harley-Davidson, California,
has been named first in the world for
new H-D bike sales and has been
awarded the Gold Bar & Shield
Award by the Harley-Davidson Motor
Company for 2019.
San Bernardino, California
based motorcycle dealer
Chaparral Motorsports has
bought the former
WPS/HardDrive warehouse at
Memphis, TN., to open a
108,000 sq ft East Coast
fulfilment facility. WPS recently
moved its East Coast operations
to a new 245,000 sq ft custom
built distribution center near
Savannah, Georgia. Still family
owned and operated, Chaparral
has been in business for more
than 50 years and encompasses
a 160,000 sq ft footprint in San
Bernardino, California, making it
one of the largest multi-line
motorcycle dealerships in the
U.S. Chaparral says it will now
be able to ship product to 85%
of US based customers in two
days or less.
Ducati has reported sales of 53,183
Ducati motorcycles for 2019 to
customers in 90 countries (53,004 in
2018). Italy remains the number one
market (9,474 units, +3%); the
company saw double-digit growth in
China (3,200 units, + 12%), Brazil
(+20%) and Spain (+10%). A record
number of advance orders (over
1,700) have been taken for the new
Streetfighter V4, and the Panigale
was the world's best-selling
Superbike in 2019 (8,304 units for a
25% of the global Superbike
market). In the United States, Ducati
deliveries totaled 7,682 units, -2%,
but ahead of overall domestic U.S.
market decline for 2019 (-7%).
Lind Automotive Group is the
largest Harley dealership group
in the UK - the opening of the
purpose- built two-story
Watford H-D store north of
London in February takes the
company to five dealerships -
already owning showrooms in
Guildford, Newmarket, Norwich
and Reading. Lind also owns
BMW and Triumph stores.
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Harley-Davidson is celebrating the
30th anniversary of the Fat Boy with a
special 2,500 example limited edition
- "cloaked in dark finishes with bronze
highlights and powered by a blacked-
out M-8 114 engine, each serialized
with a number plate affixed to the fuel
tank console."
"The Fat Boy was a perfectly
outrageous name for a motorcycle that
at its 1990 introduction was brilliantly
bodacious, taking its look, proportions
and silhouette from a 1949 Hydra
Glide motorcycle and completely
modernized for a new generation of
riders," explains Brad Richards,
Harley-Davidson Vice President of
Styling and Design.
"Those riders appreciated our post-
war design DNA but also found
themselves drawn to the clean
simplicity of contemporary industrial
design. Each of these elements was
captured in the new 2018 version of
the Fat Boy model. For this 30th
Anniversary model we wanted to
create something very special, so we
leaned into the popularity of darker
finishes and a limited run/serialized
strategy to make the bike truly unique
and exclusive."
The blacked-out Milwaukee-Eight 114
powertrain is finished with engine
covers in gloss black and subtle
bronze-tone lower rocker covers and
timer cover script. A Vivid Black LED
headlamp nacelle, handlebar and
controls complete the overall dark look
that is distinctive from the regular
production model. A new bronze-tone
waterslide Fat Boy tank logo
complements the black finish and
other bronze details that set the Fat
Boy 30th Anniversary apart from the
regular production model.
"The entire Fat Boy front end is
massive and Lakester disc aluminum
wheels update that defining Fat Boy
style point. The 160 mm front tire is
balanced by a signature 240 mm rear
tire that delivers a factory custom
look."
Introduced in 1989 as a 1990 model,
the original Fat Boy was designed by
legendary Harley-Davidson stylists
Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz and
combined a fresh, contemporary look
with classic Harley-Davidson styling
cues. To achieve a "milled from billet"
look, the bike was finished in
monochromatic Fine Silver Metallic
with a matching powder-coated frame
and rolled on aluminum disc wheels –
the rear exposed by the Softail chassis
– that would become the defining
characteristic of the Fat Boy model. The
look was beefy for the time, from the
fat front tire covered with a trimmed
fender to the wide handlebar and a
seven-inch headlamp in a massive
chrome housing perched on a polished
FL-style nacelle. Davidson designed
the winged tank logo, which has been
an enduring feature of the Fat Boy
model.
In 1991 the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
motorcycle entered popular culture
with its featured appearance in the
motion picture "Terminator 2:
Judgment Day," in which actor Arnold
Schwarzenegger rides a Fat Boy
motorcycle through Los Angeles in a
dramatic chase scene. The movie was
a global sensation, helping cement the
Fat Boy model as an iconic
representative of the Harley-Davidson
brand in many markets, especially
Europe.
Base MRSP is $21,949.
Bagger Nation Bags ODC Suspension
performance enthusiast."
Phoenix, Arizona based
The ODC product line will
Paul Yaffe’s Bagger
be available for all H-D
Nation and Paul Yaffe
touring models as well as
Originals have scored
Bagger Nation's new SRT
big with the
performance wide tire kits.
announcement of an
Bagger Nation will also
exclusive partnership
offer full fork, cartridge and
with noted Italian
shock combos for Dynas,
specialist ODC
FXRs and new M-8 Softails.
Suspension.
Noted for style and quality,
Paul told AMD: "ODC’s
ODC Suspension front ends
fantastic suspension
and performance shocks
components were
have been a popular choice
created by the greatest
with performance
racing suspension
'Milano'
customizers and big inch
minds in Italy and are
inverted
the perfect balance of
touring forks Bagger builders for many
years.
performance coupled
Owned and operated by
with sleek Italian
Christian Cagnola and based
design.
just a few miles north west of
"ODC’s flagship inverted front
Milan, Italy, ODC parts have
fork for touring models paired
been no strangers to the pages
with incredible piggyback
of AMD Magazine down the
shocks will offer sport touring
years and are one of Europe's
riders the ultimate smooth ride
leading players in the Bagger
with unprecedented tuneability
space.
for the most discerning
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - MARCH 2020
'Milano' and 'Roma' series
inverted front forks have been
top sellers in Europe for a
decade or more and are noted
for their precision machining
and excellent handling.
www.odcsuspension.com
www.baggernation.com
Paul Yaffe (left)
with Christian
Cagnola
www.AMDchampionship.com