Advice - Fatboy vs. Deluxe
Sit on it, stare at it, test ride both bikes a I guarantee the bike will pick you. Take the price out of the equation, because you'll eat the difference up on chrome and modifications without even blinking.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,577
Likes: 138
From: South of Dallas Area, Texas
Both are Softail Models. FL Series. Good choice. Now you can go for looks.
Do you want to look like Arnold in Terminator on the FatBoy, or do you want to look like a cool Retro bro on a classic HD. The Deluxe is styled after the old Chevy Deluxe from the 40's.
I love my Heritage Classic. The styling of the White Walls, and the large FL Fender in the front.
To me from the only difference is the seat, handle bars, and front fender.
Do you want to look like Arnold in Terminator on the FatBoy, or do you want to look like a cool Retro bro on a classic HD. The Deluxe is styled after the old Chevy Deluxe from the 40's.
I love my Heritage Classic. The styling of the White Walls, and the large FL Fender in the front.
To me from the only difference is the seat, handle bars, and front fender.
I may be slightly biased.
MikeM
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,578
Likes: 4
From: Northern California
This is a myth that gets repeated every month or so.
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 902
Likes: 6
From: STL
I dont know about y'all but when I went into the dealership, the BIKE told ME that I was buying it. If you havent felt that yet, hold onto your cash a bit longer.
(problem is, now I got another one telling me to bring it home too............)
(problem is, now I got another one telling me to bring it home too............)
Road Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,077
Likes: 2
From: Florida Panhandle
Tough Decisions
As is the case with many on this forum it can be tough narrowing down a choice when their are so many great bikes. I was completely enamored by the Fat Boy at one time, I also love the classic look of the Heritage. Then I saw the Deluxe when it first came out in the summer of '04 and knew I had the best of both worlds. I can't explain it completely but I knew when I saw it, sat on it and rode it that it was the perfect bike for me. Good luck with your decision making.
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Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From:
Both are great bikes. But you need to consider the type of riding that you like to do. Differences between the bikes go beyond the looks, there is a difference in the ride. I have ridden both. I too was tossed between FB and Luxe. I went with the luxe as I liked the nostalgic look and my wife was getting into motorcycling as well so I wanted a bit easier handling bike.
As far as going in a straight line, there is not much difference in the ride.
Going onto twistys you feel the difference immediately, Luxe is a bit more nimble and less effort in tossing it into a corner, although the lower height causes footboard scraping more readily. If you are a tall person, you may not feel as comfortable with the lower seat height.
With the FB you require more push steering to toss it into the curves. The bigger tires cause you to feel the imperfections on the road a bit more as well. This is my educated guess as the suspension and frame is the same on both; the luxe is a bit smoother ride in my opinion. I had one minor annoyance when I rode the FB, the one I rode had stock pipes so I could hear the "whirring" of the tires - got louder at higher speeds. Won't be an issue with louder pipes. I can't confirm this, but I feel FB has slightly longer braking distance; looking at physics it makes sense as FB has bigger tires and more meat to the rims attributing to more weight thus increased momentum requiring more friction to stop.
There are other things to consider. One is expense, bigger tires means a bit more expense when time comes to replace tires. Luxe has white walls which means a bit more work effort in cleaning them to keep them white (if you are as **** as I on the look of you bike). Spoke wheels also adds your cleaning time as well. If you are not much into spending time in washing your bike, then you should consider these factors.
Hope this helps - either way you go, I don't think that you can really go wrong.
As far as going in a straight line, there is not much difference in the ride.
Going onto twistys you feel the difference immediately, Luxe is a bit more nimble and less effort in tossing it into a corner, although the lower height causes footboard scraping more readily. If you are a tall person, you may not feel as comfortable with the lower seat height.
With the FB you require more push steering to toss it into the curves. The bigger tires cause you to feel the imperfections on the road a bit more as well. This is my educated guess as the suspension and frame is the same on both; the luxe is a bit smoother ride in my opinion. I had one minor annoyance when I rode the FB, the one I rode had stock pipes so I could hear the "whirring" of the tires - got louder at higher speeds. Won't be an issue with louder pipes. I can't confirm this, but I feel FB has slightly longer braking distance; looking at physics it makes sense as FB has bigger tires and more meat to the rims attributing to more weight thus increased momentum requiring more friction to stop.
There are other things to consider. One is expense, bigger tires means a bit more expense when time comes to replace tires. Luxe has white walls which means a bit more work effort in cleaning them to keep them white (if you are as **** as I on the look of you bike). Spoke wheels also adds your cleaning time as well. If you are not much into spending time in washing your bike, then you should consider these factors.
Hope this helps - either way you go, I don't think that you can really go wrong.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,583
Likes: 96
From: Eastern North Carolina
I went with the Deluxe as it called to me in the show room. Funny thing is, a FB was parked right next to it and two seasoned riders kept sayin' "try the Fatboy, try the Fatboy (they both owned one). So I did. And hopped right off again. I felt S P L A Y E D out like I was being disected. Arms way out - I believe the FB and the Road King Classic share the same handlebars - the seat felt very wide and pushed my legs way out of proportion and I didn't like it one bit. Of course, about a month later, they had a FB on the floor with a much narrower seat and it felt just fine. Go figure. Sit on both. Either is a scream fursur - in a GOOD way of course.