2007-2008 Fatboy problems?
Road Captain
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 507
Likes: 4
From: Wentzville, Missouri
Get one. Enjoy it. I have not had any systemic problems with mine. You can take it old school or contemporary. There's a lot of riders who'll take it off your hands if you don't like it.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 5
From: Hickory, NC
First off, on the '07s, it's not just the front wheel that's offset. Because Harely went to a bigger rear tire, the rear tire is offset in the swing arm so the sprocket will line up correctly with the primary gear. This required the front wheel to be offset to get the bike to track correctly.
Everyone will tell you the wheel offset is not a problem but it's the reason I didn't buy an '07 (or an '06 SE Fatboy which is actually where it all started).
And, there actually WERE problems that most people who bought '07s never saw because of Harley's cheezy fix. When they offset the front wheel in the forks, every time the front forks bottomed out, the sliders would scrape the paint off the front fender on the side to which the wheel was offset. Harley cheaped out on the fix and simply cut notches in the sliders so they wouldn't rub the fender. I had looked at an '06 SE Fatboy and '07 Fatboy and refused to buy one because the offset looks stupid IMHO and because it ticked me off that Harley cheaped out on the fix.
Finally, in '08 Harley realized that folks weren't going to tolerate the offset or the cheap fix. They moved the primary gear outboard further so the rear tire could be centered in the swingarm which allowed the front tire to once again be centered in the front forks.
Stick with the '08.
Everyone will tell you the wheel offset is not a problem but it's the reason I didn't buy an '07 (or an '06 SE Fatboy which is actually where it all started).
And, there actually WERE problems that most people who bought '07s never saw because of Harley's cheezy fix. When they offset the front wheel in the forks, every time the front forks bottomed out, the sliders would scrape the paint off the front fender on the side to which the wheel was offset. Harley cheaped out on the fix and simply cut notches in the sliders so they wouldn't rub the fender. I had looked at an '06 SE Fatboy and '07 Fatboy and refused to buy one because the offset looks stupid IMHO and because it ticked me off that Harley cheaped out on the fix.
Finally, in '08 Harley realized that folks weren't going to tolerate the offset or the cheap fix. They moved the primary gear outboard further so the rear tire could be centered in the swingarm which allowed the front tire to once again be centered in the front forks.
Stick with the '08.
Last edited by FBFletch; Oct 22, 2011 at 02:48 PM.
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
From: Milford, CT
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Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Maryland
Go with an 08 over and 07. 07 is an off year for softail models. they were still trying to figure things out and parts lots of parts are for 2007 models only. 2008, they pretty much had all the kinks worked out and easier to flop around parts. Good luck!