This might be a little long but bear with me.
I have owned a number of Harleys over the last 25 years, from Evo to touring. Mostly softails. However, for the last seven years I have been riding Indian. I currently own two, a '22 chief, which is a blast, and a Springfield, which is my long distance bike.
I have been thinking about downsizing to a lighter bike than the Springfield. It is 830 lbs. Indian doesn't have anything currently that can do light duty touring that weighs about the same as the heritage. So I have been following hd's 2022 release with some renewed interest.
I went to my local hd to look at the new colors and sit on the heritage and a used lrs, as the speculated touring version is interesting. Anyway, the lrs just didn't feel right. Probably because I'm more of a cruiser guy. The heritage was okay, but it didn't grab me. I still want to see it in reef blue and black, though. BTW I am in Michigan so no chance to test ride right now.
As I was about to leave I saw a new Fatboy in reef blue and went over to check it out. The color looks great. I sat on it and I immediately felt like I was home. I'm not a tall guy, 5'7" and 30" inseam. The Fatboy just felt planted.
So I went home and did a lot of reading various threads. I already know about the different length shocks on the various softails and perceived ride quality differences. So here is the main question. Properly fitted, would the Fatboy be a comfortable two up ride. My wife and I are in our 60's. We don't take long trips together anymore. I weigh 180 with my gear on and she probably weighs 155-160. Because of kid travel ball commitment and life in general, our idea of a trip these days is the occasional Sunday afternoon or, for longer trips, she will fly out with the wives and I will ride with my buddies. Then we will do about 700 to 1000 miles and she will fly back and I will ride. My wife is extremely comfortable on the Springfield and even though I know I can't match the ride quality on a smaller bike, even with the heritage, I want to find a happy compromise. So, for those that have done a fair amount of riding two up on the newer Fatboy, is your other half comfortable? I'm not worried about myself, although I wish it weren't winter so I could take one for a ride.
Thanks ahead of time for your perspective. And no Indian bashing .
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Ok I am gonna offer what I have found in my research you are gonna get a couple different replies. There will be those will say absolutely you can tour comfortably on a fatboy. And then there will be those that will push you to a touring frame specifically the Road King to keep the weight down. Personally from what you are describing as your riding style I believe the fatboy will definitely work for you. I would only caution that she may feel a little cramped to many variables to know for sure. Theres definitely comfortable seats available but leg position and fore aft room may come in to play for you. Definitely do a test ride when the weather permits. I also am on a quest for a lighter set up who knows where I will land but the FLFBS is in my top two bike come spring...

JJ

 

I have the 2019 FB with a Saddleman Explorer seat. The wife and I are very comfortable on the bike for long distances, no problem doing 800-1000km days with a soft bag on the back for our essentials. We use it for over night trips to a week or two of touring.

Prior to this we owned an ultra limited and did serious touring, however this one fits the bill for our purposes now and a lot lighter to move around with my bad back.

 

Thanks both for your comments.

So far 2-0.

 

I think of my Fat Boy as my hot rod, for 45min cruises.

If I am goin on a long ride it's on the Heritage

 

Heritage - Best one up multipurpose bike to ever roll off an assembly line. 2 up - Road King. I love H-D but life is too short not to consider other flavors of fun. E.g Yamaha FJR1300, BMW 1250RT, Guzzi California. New bike shopping is one of life's thrills.

 

OK, 2-2.

I won't consider a RK. Not bashing, but my Springfield beats it in every category I care about. I have a 116 kit in the Indian and it pulls hard. The RK looks good, but really needs an update. Also, it's just as heavy as my Springfield. It really has to be a Softail, Heritage or maybe Fatboy. Thanks for the comments.

 

I agree. When Indian released their '22 Chief, I thought they really missed the mark with the Super Chief model. It's supposed to compete with the Heritage, but has smaller 4 gallon tank and less suspension in the rear than the Fatboy (3"). However, in its Darkhorsse and Bobber configurations it is perfect IMO, which is why I got one for an second bike.

 

So, I think I've come to an initial conclusion. I could make the Fatboy work for light duty two-up, but after viewing a bunch of pics of how it would be set-up, I decided that the Heritage and old Deluxe look a lot better dressed up. The Deluxe looks good both ways. It just kills the Fatboy vibe when it's all dressed up, IMO. I'll take another look at the Heritage, and maybe try to find an unmolested low mileage 2018+ Deluxe. Appreciated the comments, thanks.

 

TedMan - Really curious about your thoughts on the Chief. I'm looking to trade the RKS this year for something smaller and lighter. Waiting to see what the moco releases on the 26, but right now the Chief Dark Horse Bobber is leading (on paper) my buying decision by a lot. There's just nothing in the '22 Softail lineup that comes close.