And so it begins... Decided to give my 2003 FatBoy a makeover as I wanted to get a bike or have a bike that looked a little more sinister than "pretty". With 3 white or partially white bikes it was hard to pick one of them that accomplished this and getting a fourth bike, well, I can't even convince myself that's a good idea let alone what that would do to the harmony I currently enjoy with the Mrs...

After doing much searching for sinister looking or mean looking black bikes, I ran across this as a source of inspiration:



probably not going fishtails again but a lot of this will be where it ends up.



So... I happened across a great deal on some tins on eBay for a 2001 Heritage (they arrived today) and I gotta say, the seller was 100% (on the $) with the description of this set. It had never seen the road and I can vouch for that with no sign of road debris anywhere on the fenders or the tank. Pics below...

Started the project today and replaced the fenders but need some assistance from my local wrench to convert the tank from EFI to Carb. Once thats done, then onto wheels and a few other assorted goodies to give it what I think it needs. All in all this will be much cheaper than another bike and I'll get to do a few things I haven't done yet on a bike like fender swapping, etc. Win/Win!

Here's a few pics so far.

Started here:



I love this bike and will always have it so the white tins will be taking a vacation in the basement along with the iconic wheels.


Bought these tins on eBay:


Arrived today looking every bit as described. For $900 I couldn't pass them up and this tank emblem is an all time favorite.

Tear down this morning:



I kinda dug it without fenders. Looked like a rat-rod bike for a minute.



Off came the wheels so I could try and pull the shocks but can't get the rear shock bolts loose... . So my wrench will be making a house call after my SS arrives in a few weeks or I'll throw the FatBoy Wheels back on and take to him to finish.



Fenders mounted! was pretty easy actually. Most of my time was waiting for the Fed Ex guy all day!



Mototeks wheels ordered.




blacking out rotors and pulley too



Will post more pics as I make progress but I hope to have it all done possibly in time to bring it to Sturgis! If not, certainly by mid-August so I can get some seat time with its new black tuxedo before the snow fly's.

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished bike

 

Looking good…

 

Nice bike before cant wait to see the finished after ....

 

No hesitation on your part. Go get em.

 

NICE man! Can't wait to see the finished bike!

 

Like everyone else I am looking forward to seeing it come together

 

Thanks for all the replies and kind words on the FatBoy. Still my favorite bike in the stable and has been since day 1.

Progress on hold til some more parts arrive. Should be able to get a few small things done in the next 1-2 weeks before wheels and SS arrive.

 

I like the look you are going for. This makes me want to go for the same look on my Slim.

 

I dig the old school look too. Timeless, classic and cool!

Not much progress since last week. Was out of town and waiting to get wheels and SS in to finish things. But I did drop off the new tank to my wrench yesterday for Carb conversion. Hopefully before Sturgis it's all back together.