Hi Folks - Just wanted to know your opinions about the 1999 Fat Boy (last of the Evo engines)? Is a low mileage one good buy or you are better off buying the the 2004 to 2005 Fat Boys. Have no need but would be a second HD.

Both the low mileage 1999 and 2005 ones are going for about the same price give or take. The 1999 one might have gone already but just asking to see if it’s still worth pursuing if it’s still there. Couldn’t find many actual review videos or any good user experiences on the ‘99 Fat Boy anywhere.

A few pics for reference.

 

99 has that cool factor, no doubt. A short story:

In 2005 I was about to get out of the Navy. I had $18k in my pocket and I was looking to buy a new motorcycle. I went to the HD dealer because I was going to buy a 2005 FatBoy with the EFI, because those came came with carbs or the EFI. The salesman was an *** and I ultimately didn't buy the bike and went and bought a Yamaha RoadStar instead. I cut it up and turned it into a cool Springer chopper. I still have it but it's in pieces now. I always wished I'd just gone to a different dealer and bought the Harley. I imagine I'd still be riding the heck out of it,

So, I personally would go for the 05 for personal reasons and that alone. You didn't mention price, mileage, maintenance on the bikes, so I couldn't give you an educated guess. But either way, it has that cool factor.

 

Thanks. Agreed. Just checked this morning. That 1999 Fat Boy is gone by the way. For better or worse. Good for me...hahaha! Looking for 2005+ CVO bikes, I guess those will interest me better.

 

i love my 99 fatboy i think you missed out on that one, i would buy the carbed model over the efi, i wanted a bike without all the electronic stuff . at least on a carbed model i can pretty much diagnose any issues with it. the electronic stuff i just dont know that much about. and i like the evo sound over the twin cam and the m8. but this is just my opinion im not saying anything bad about the newer stuff, i just don't care for the newer electronic ones.

 

It was very pretty bike for sure and I would certainly if anything low (er) mileage and neat comes up anytime to my collection later. Although the hopes are very slim. But I do wonder, what the guy did with the bike with only 1500 miles from year 1999. The odometer read "certified Harley-Davidson" , not sure what that means, could be replaced. Also, do people roll back digital odometers by buying new displays? Would be very dishonest of them do so if they did like that.

 

Love the bike you should be proud of it, love the highway pegs never seen anything like it are they HD

 

Late Evos were practically bullet proof, simple to work on, better looking IMO than what followed, and fun to ride. Wish I still had mine.

 

First thing you can look at on low milage bikes like that is the age of the tire and the brake pads.
There’s a 4 digit number on all tires. The first two numbers are the week and the second two are the year.
On that bike the tires might have been 1599 if still original.
That usually tells the story

 

Thank you. Very nice. Great tips. I did not know that. But for older bikes, the owner might have replaced tires several times over due to age issues.

 

Engine is very reliable
Style is classic
Parts for frame/tank/fenders etc. a bit hard'er to find
Worst problem for me would be the buzz above 65m/h, the engine is hard mounted to the frame and it does vibrate and could be unpleasant for long rides.