2018 Fatbob - Peg Scraping?
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 207
Likes: 60
From: North Georgia
I picked up a 2018 Fat Bob a few weeks ago and love it. It's my favorite bike that I've ever owned and the best handling HD I've been on. Either way, it seems to be a decent challenge to scrape these pegs, unless you're having fun messing with sport bikes up in the mountains. Hitting on what Thingfish and Prot mentioned, there's technique that goes into it and with proper technique, you won't be scraping these pegs on any sort of regular basis without REALLY trying.
Thread Starter
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Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 39
Likes: 8
From: Australia
I'd love to see someone take one to the track with a go pro mounted. Found this video on youtube of a Low Rider S on the track. You can clearly hear the peg scrape on some corners yet he does a great job of passing the sports bike riders. You'd expect the Fat Bob to out handle the Low Rider S.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 314
Likes: 130
From: US
i took a demo ride today on 2018 fatboy , i had a hard time cornering the bike due to the fat tires. the fat front tire made it hard to corner....i did not not like it....also, i did not hear any scraping of pegs...my 2nd demo ride was on the breakout, i liked that bike better and seemed to be faster...the breakout left me with some excitement, where the fatboy did not... there were a lot of people looking at the fatboy today, but my heart would be with breakout
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,117
Likes: 1,192
From: Maryland
I wonder just how much lean angle one really needs on public roads...
I rarely scrape the hardware on my Nightster. Sure it's happen, but again it's rare. It's not a lack of twisty roads where I live. I live in Maryland, and finding a straight road in this state is rare. However, the vast majority of curves I encounter are blind. Never thought it a great idea to be overly aggressive with blind curves. Your never know what you are going to encounter. Roadkill, debris/gravel, stopped car? This is especially true on new - never ridden - roads. Is this curve a continuous radius or decreasing? Not to say that all curves I encounter here are blind. There are a few that I encounter that can be seen through and I have made contact in those. But again it occurs rarely.
I figure if I want to really push it far enough that I have to regularly worry about scraping parts, then I should be thinking about getting a bike for track days. Haven't got there... Hence the Nightster has been good enough. Can't imagine having problems with the new Fat Bob.
I rarely scrape the hardware on my Nightster. Sure it's happen, but again it's rare. It's not a lack of twisty roads where I live. I live in Maryland, and finding a straight road in this state is rare. However, the vast majority of curves I encounter are blind. Never thought it a great idea to be overly aggressive with blind curves. Your never know what you are going to encounter. Roadkill, debris/gravel, stopped car? This is especially true on new - never ridden - roads. Is this curve a continuous radius or decreasing? Not to say that all curves I encounter here are blind. There are a few that I encounter that can be seen through and I have made contact in those. But again it occurs rarely.
I figure if I want to really push it far enough that I have to regularly worry about scraping parts, then I should be thinking about getting a bike for track days. Haven't got there... Hence the Nightster has been good enough. Can't imagine having problems with the new Fat Bob.
Road Captain
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 614
Likes: 79
From: Virginia
Theres a pretty good amount of lean on the 2018 Fatbob. Ive only had mine a few days, just have about 375 miles on it so Im still kind of taking it easy. I havent had any cornering issues yet. I will say this; this bike handles very, very well. Its like nothing Ive ever experienced from an HD product.
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 214
Likes: 33
From: Colorado
So a couple things to take note of when watching the "third person" view...
Notice the rider's body position through the corners. Thats how you minimize scrapping pegs...
Secondly as a former roadracer, take "Track Days" with a HUGE grain of salt. They are NOT a race. When I roadraced I thought it would be a good idea to do those so I could get more track time in. BUT what I found was even dividing the groups into "Slow", "Intermediate", and "Expert", Speeds and ability varied widely. For me, it became a game of dodging street riders who didn't know how to ride on the track. Yeah, and I admit I expected too much of the riders, my bad.
So seeing guys on a Harley pass people on a "sportbike" may look impressive to the non-racer or non-trackday person, but its not. Notice in the first video how most of those riders he passes aren't moving quickly nor hardly leaning into the corners.
And yes I've seen the videos/pics/articles of a few guys who have raced V-Rods successfully. But the bikes were heavily modified for track use and the riders, were of the caliber they could successfully campaigned a true racing bike with good success...
Again, when I raced, there were guys on single cylinder 125cc motorcycles who would lap faster than guys on 1000cc bikes and give the 600cc guys a run for their money.
With that said, I do give HUGE kudos to the guy riding the Harley. It does take skill and ***** to take a bike not designed for hard riding on a track.
Notice the rider's body position through the corners. Thats how you minimize scrapping pegs...
Secondly as a former roadracer, take "Track Days" with a HUGE grain of salt. They are NOT a race. When I roadraced I thought it would be a good idea to do those so I could get more track time in. BUT what I found was even dividing the groups into "Slow", "Intermediate", and "Expert", Speeds and ability varied widely. For me, it became a game of dodging street riders who didn't know how to ride on the track. Yeah, and I admit I expected too much of the riders, my bad.
So seeing guys on a Harley pass people on a "sportbike" may look impressive to the non-racer or non-trackday person, but its not. Notice in the first video how most of those riders he passes aren't moving quickly nor hardly leaning into the corners.
And yes I've seen the videos/pics/articles of a few guys who have raced V-Rods successfully. But the bikes were heavily modified for track use and the riders, were of the caliber they could successfully campaigned a true racing bike with good success...
Again, when I raced, there were guys on single cylinder 125cc motorcycles who would lap faster than guys on 1000cc bikes and give the 600cc guys a run for their money.
With that said, I do give HUGE kudos to the guy riding the Harley. It does take skill and ***** to take a bike not designed for hard riding on a track.
I'd love to see someone take one to the track with a go pro mounted. Found this video on youtube of a Low Rider S on the track. You can clearly hear the peg scrape on some corners yet he does a great job of passing the sports bike riders. You'd expect the Fat Bob to out handle the Low Rider S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yR2O2nw6PI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1px3aV8D0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yR2O2nw6PI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1px3aV8D0
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 5,173
Likes: 177
From: East Coast
I'd love to see someone take one to the track with a go pro mounted. Found this video on youtube of a Low Rider S on the track. You can clearly hear the peg scrape on some corners yet he does a great job of passing the sports bike riders. You'd expect the Fat Bob to out handle the Low Rider S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yR2O2nw6PI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1px3aV8D0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yR2O2nw6PI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1px3aV8D0
It's amazing how accomplished the rider is to take (of all things) a Low Rider on that track. Early in the first video, you see a guy on my other bike, a Yamaha FZ-10 Hypernaked. Vastly DE-tuned to only 160 HP for more torque, you see it blow past the Low Rider like it was standing still.
All in all, though, that was a lot to ask of a Cruiser (with at MOST a 107), and I think she handled herself admirably considering the venue and the circumstances!
Banned
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,098
Likes: 474
From: Location location.
So a couple things to take note of when watching the "third person" view...
Notice the rider's body position through the corners. Thats how you minimize scrapping pegs...
Secondly as a former roadracer, take "Track Days" with a HUGE grain of salt. They are NOT a race. When I roadraced I thought it would be a good idea to do those so I could get more track time in. BUT what I found was even dividing the groups into "Slow", "Intermediate", and "Expert", Speeds and ability varied widely. For me, it became a game of dodging street riders who didn't know how to ride on the track. Yeah, and I admit I expected too much of the riders, my bad.
So seeing guys on a Harley pass people on a "sportbike" may look impressive to the non-racer or non-trackday person, but its not. Notice in the first video how most of those riders he passes aren't moving quickly nor hardly leaning into the corners.
And yes I've seen the videos/pics/articles of a few guys who have raced V-Rods successfully. But the bikes were heavily modified for track use and the riders, were of the caliber they could successfully campaigned a true racing bike with good success...
Again, when I raced, there were guys on single cylinder 125cc motorcycles who would lap faster than guys on 1000cc bikes and give the 600cc guys a run for their money.
With that said, I do give HUGE kudos to the guy riding the Harley. It does take skill and ***** to take a bike not designed for hard riding on a track.
Notice the rider's body position through the corners. Thats how you minimize scrapping pegs...
Secondly as a former roadracer, take "Track Days" with a HUGE grain of salt. They are NOT a race. When I roadraced I thought it would be a good idea to do those so I could get more track time in. BUT what I found was even dividing the groups into "Slow", "Intermediate", and "Expert", Speeds and ability varied widely. For me, it became a game of dodging street riders who didn't know how to ride on the track. Yeah, and I admit I expected too much of the riders, my bad.
So seeing guys on a Harley pass people on a "sportbike" may look impressive to the non-racer or non-trackday person, but its not. Notice in the first video how most of those riders he passes aren't moving quickly nor hardly leaning into the corners.
And yes I've seen the videos/pics/articles of a few guys who have raced V-Rods successfully. But the bikes were heavily modified for track use and the riders, were of the caliber they could successfully campaigned a true racing bike with good success...
Again, when I raced, there were guys on single cylinder 125cc motorcycles who would lap faster than guys on 1000cc bikes and give the 600cc guys a run for their money.
With that said, I do give HUGE kudos to the guy riding the Harley. It does take skill and ***** to take a bike not designed for hard riding on a track.