Willie G.

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Where do these unique Fat Boy features which we all like came from?  Again, we go back to Willie G. Davidson. Together with Louie Netz he is responsible for the unique characteristics that make the Fat Boy not just another Softail.

At the end of the 80’s Harley Davidson has had to deal with some serious competition from the Japanese motorcycle companies. They were offering cruisers and choppers twice as cheap as a new Harley. Harley saw the import choppers spreading across America and had to come with an answer. Willie G. a Harley Davidson executive at the time was the right man for this job; his designs have proven themselves many times. His idea was to add a new member to the Softail family, one that was bigger, fatter and tougher. Features as 16 “ Aluminum cast wheels, large floorboards, a wider fuel tank, laced tank panel and seat, shotgun exhausts, cast aluminum covers, a fat front tire and a fat fork and a new tank decal were added. The Fat Boy was born! The first Fat Boy prototype had a silver two tone color and was made in 1988. Willie G. has driven this bike during the Daytona Bike week of 1988 and 1989. Just as today Harley Davidson take their prototypes to the audience. Journalists, H.O.G members and ordinary fans can give their opinion and will be taken seriously. One year afterDaytona the 1990 Fat Boy was unveiled to the world!