I bought my 107 Fat Bob back in September of 2017. I walked into Harley and when I saw her – my peripheral vision faded, Barry White music started playing in the background, and all I could see was that beautiful Vivid Black beast sitting there just waiting for me. It was the first one to hit the showroom floor at my local dealership and when I saw it, I fell in love. Without hesitation, I traded in my ‘13 Softail Slim and rode the new Fat Bob home. I didn’t even test ride it! I sat on it for a solid two minutes and said “Yep. She’s the one. Where do I sign?” My first impression after pulling out of the parking lot was “Oh man … this thing is a f*ckin rocket.” It was fast, nimble, and just felt amazing. I still maintain that it is the best Harley I’ve ever ridden. I’m glad I wear a full face helmet because I’m sure that I had the dumbest looking sh*t eating grin plastered on my face the whole way home. Anyhow, I’ve done a few things to the bike since I got it and just wanted to share them with y’all.


Day 1

The first purchases I made were a new seat and backrest. I ride two up about 80% of the time, so I wanted to ensure my passenger’s comfort. I went with the HD Sundowner Seat and the tall HD HoldFast Backrest. It was a very simple and straight forward install with a great fit and finish. The styling of both the seat and backrest blend with the bike well. The seat is awesome for me and I’ve heard zero complaints from my ol’ lady.



My next round of modifications was the parts to get me to Stage 1. I opted for the Bassani 2-into-1 Exhaust System, S&S Stealth Air Cleaner, and DynoJet Power Vision Tuner. I got an excellent deal from Fuel Moto on Black Friday. When I received my parts, I got right to work. The Bassani system came packaged nicely in foam and arrived without any dents, scratches, etc. All of the components were wrapped in plastic or foam and secured with tape. The air cleaner and Power Vision were safely packed in a separate box.



The exhaust went on without any issues at all. It took me longer to remove the awful stock exhaust than it did to install the Bassani. The S&S air cleaner was the same way. Very quick and simple install. Both the exhaust and air cleaner came with EVERYTHING needed to complete each install. After buttoning up the installs, I connected the Power Vision and flashed the base map which was supplied by Fuel Moto. I did a couple of auto tune sessions and sent my map to Jamie @ Fuel Moto. He made some minor tweaks and sent me a final map within an hour (talk about customer service!). The bike runs so well – lots of torque, smooth power delivery throughout the RPMs, good gas mileage, no popping or pinging, etc. I’m 100% happy with how the bike runs.

My most recent round of upgrades included new risers, riser bushings, handlebars, saddlebags and some other minor aesthetic mods (turn signal switch extenders, tank pads, front turn signal delete, grips). For the risers, I went with Hard Case Performance 9.5” HCP Risers. They took a little while to receive, but the wait was totally worth it. These things are BEEFY. I checked out a few other companies who make risers and HCP was, in my opinion, the best quality for the price I paid. For the handlebars, I chose the Fly Racing moto bars. I like the bend profile of these and they’re priced right. They’re 1-1/8” thick at the clamping area, 1” at the grips (so they work with Harley stuff), and they’re throttle-by-wire compatible. They’re also pre-drilled for internal wiring with ports at the center of the bar as well as at each individual riser location. As for the installation, this round was more of a pain. De-pinning and running the wiring through the bars and down through the risers was tight, so I had to do as much woosah-ing as possible. Patience is not my strong suit. After I mounted the bars, I measured for the brake line and the clutch cable. Harley makes it super easy to upgrade these on the 2018 Softails. The clutch cable is two pieces so you only have to replace the upper section and the brake line couples to a manifold bolted to the underside of the triple tree.





The saddlebags were a super simple install as well. Changed out a few bolts, made some adjustments to the bag locks, and I was good to go. These LeatherPros bags are super high quality, look great and offer more function than I could ask for. I've never had more than a small tool bag or swing arm bag on a bike before.





Right now, I've got the bike exactly how I want it and couldn't be happier. Looking forward, I think if someone makes a decent looking fairing for it, I'd jump on it. Other than that, I'm 100% happy with my Fat Bob.

 

So where did you buy the parts for the handlebars and risers? Im on the fly racing site and nothing there states it makes a 1in bar just 7/8. Im always curious on what sites you guys use to buy these types of parts. Since these are not typically harley parts. Nice build, have you considered using a stepped seat?

 

I did look into stepped seats. I love the way the Saddlemen TR Step Up looks, but I don't know anything about passenger comfort level w/ them.

I got the bars from Kraus. The way it's put is that these bars are designed by Forbidden Motorcycles and made by Fly Racing. Not sure if they would be listed on the FR site. The risers were purchased directly from Hard Case Performance.

 

Nice looking bike right there.

Have to say, I'm not a fan of the taller bars, but that's just my personal opinion and if I could get a set of 2" up and 2" back risers, then I would go for that setup.

I had the LeatherPro bags on my 2014 Fat Bob and they are without a doubt the best bags out there. Both for looks and performance. I going to use the HD backrest/rack combo and their big rolling tour bag for this year's touring as I want to keep the stock pipe (with S&S slip ons and cat delete) for now, but if I go to a 2:1, I will get another set of the LeatherPros bags.

Enjoy the bike!

EDIT: Just to say that the LP bags look like they sit a bit higher on the Softail Fat Bob than they did on my Dyna. Either that, or your pipe sits lower. In any case, that's a good thing as I found that the short pipe would pump fumes into the right hand bag. I just used that for all my dirty stuff and kept clean clothes in the left hand bag....

 

Thanks man!

I hear you on the taller bars ... it's not everyone's cup of tea. I will say that the bike handles completely different (much better in my opinion) with these risers/bars.

The LP bags are definitely sturdy. When I spoke to the LP rep, he did mention that these bags are a little shorter in height.

 

Looks great! Reminds me of the bars that I saw on the Bob here in the showroom last weekend.

 

 

Thanks man! I'm loving the riser/bar combo I have now. There are quite a few companies coming out w/ new stuff. I'm really hoping someone makes a fairing soon. I've seen people swap to round headlights and adapt to older fairings, but I really want to retain my stock headlight.

Yes I like your fender mount plate a lot. I have longer fender strut bolts (provided by LeatherPros) that work with my saddlebags and HD holdfast setup. Would you provide new bolts w/ the plate kit, or is it something I'd have to source myself?