Cybercycles

Cruisin ’ the net with mike ‘ tex ’ hess

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I am a history buff, the history of all things. So in this issue of Cybercycles please bear with me while I recount what I think made Harley-Davidson great coming out of the AMF years. It’s a history of learning from the past, listening to one’s customers and competitors whether it be other manufacturers or probably more importantly, real motorcycle lovers.

The Fat Boy is perhaps the classic example where Harley learned from one of its dealers. But before you could have a Fat Boy, you had to have the Softail frame. A custom bike builder named Bill Davis from St Louis, Missouri came up with a design to hide the suspension under the seat to make his Shovelhead 1972 FX Super Glide look like a hardtail.

In 1976, while still in the AMF days he showed his design to Willie G. While impressed, nothing came of it. Davis then changed the design with the shocks under the frame calling it the Road Worx Sub Shock.

In 1982, Jeff Bleustein, knowing the Evolution engine was coming along, bought the patents, prototype, jigs and tooling. Only a year later Harley introduced the 1984 FXST Softail using Davis’ design.

The new Softail frame then begot the 1990 HarleyDavidson FLSTF Fat Boy. But let me give you the true back story of the birth of the Fat Boy.