HD Numbered Paint Sets
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I have a 2001 Fatboy that did at one time have a Limited Edition tank and fender set (18 of 150). The original owner and her father had ordered consecutively numbered tank and fender set bikes (18 and 19 of 150) from the factory (or so I'm told).
I bought the bike in 2005 from the second owner and while I was at Myrtle Beach for bike week in 2006 I happened to see 49 of 150 at Broadway at the Beach.
I got rear-ended in 2010, had to replace the rear fender and consequently had to get the entire bike repainted. There are several things that I learned during all of this:
1) If you get a Limited Edition tank and fender set from Harley, you're going to pay a lot of money and there's always going to be 149 tank and fender sets out there just like yours.
2) While Harley's Limited Edition tank and fender sets do have some interesting paint schemes and interesting graphics, those schemes and graphics are not typically unique and the actual paint jobs are of intermediate quality at best. Until you see a quality paint job by a talented custom painter, you can't really appreciate the difference between a Harley Limited Edition tank and fender set and a quality custom paint job.
3) If you work with a custom painter and provide them with input as to what you want, you'll end up with a 1 of 1 instead of a 1 of 150. Yep, it'll most likely cost you more money but, at the end of the day (given the right custom painter) you'll end up with a paint job that will hold up much better than a Harley Limited Edition paint job (i.e. less susceptable to chipping and sun fading).
4) Not all Harley Limited Edition tank and fender sets are painted by Harley. Some are farmed out to custom paint shops. And, if that shop happens to go out of business, you're generally screwed if you have components that need to be touched up or completely repainted (guess how I discovered that).
In case you haven't guessed by now, IMHO Harley Limited Edition tank and fender sets are over-rated.
I bought the bike in 2005 from the second owner and while I was at Myrtle Beach for bike week in 2006 I happened to see 49 of 150 at Broadway at the Beach.
I got rear-ended in 2010, had to replace the rear fender and consequently had to get the entire bike repainted. There are several things that I learned during all of this:
1) If you get a Limited Edition tank and fender set from Harley, you're going to pay a lot of money and there's always going to be 149 tank and fender sets out there just like yours.
2) While Harley's Limited Edition tank and fender sets do have some interesting paint schemes and interesting graphics, those schemes and graphics are not typically unique and the actual paint jobs are of intermediate quality at best. Until you see a quality paint job by a talented custom painter, you can't really appreciate the difference between a Harley Limited Edition tank and fender set and a quality custom paint job.
3) If you work with a custom painter and provide them with input as to what you want, you'll end up with a 1 of 1 instead of a 1 of 150. Yep, it'll most likely cost you more money but, at the end of the day (given the right custom painter) you'll end up with a paint job that will hold up much better than a Harley Limited Edition paint job (i.e. less susceptable to chipping and sun fading).
4) Not all Harley Limited Edition tank and fender sets are painted by Harley. Some are farmed out to custom paint shops. And, if that shop happens to go out of business, you're generally screwed if you have components that need to be touched up or completely repainted (guess how I discovered that).
In case you haven't guessed by now, IMHO Harley Limited Edition tank and fender sets are over-rated.
Last edited by FBFletch; 11-28-2012 at 09:24 AM.
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