1996 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

Being offered for sale with fewer than 3,500 genuine miles on the clock from new, this three-owner motorcycle has been carefully and beautifully customized with a variety of high-end aftermarket parts. However, all the original factory fitted parts are being sold with the ‘bike should the new owner want to return this low-mileage example back to its original condition.

The vendor has owned the Harley for more than 15 years, carefully storing it in a dry garage when he wasn’t riding it. As such, it is still in immaculate, as-new condition and so offers the Harley-Davidson enthusiast a rare opportunity to buy a classic Fat Boy with extremely low mileage.

The painted silver panels – designed to emulate the appearance of forged steel - are free of scratches, dents and other imperfections and the extensive chromework shines with the same lustre it left the factory with. There is, however, some very light alloy corrosion on the rear wheel that we are confident would come out with a polish.

The leather seat is free of rips, tears and scuffs and the lacing on the seat and fuel tank is still taut and supple. The footboards are almost unworn, a corollary of the Fat Boy’s only limited use.

The original indicators have been replaced with custom items that suit the ‘bike perfectly. A high ‘windscreen’ is also available; although it isn’t fitted at the moment it does make the Harley much more useable at higher speeds, so it would be a worthwhile modification should the new owner want to use the ‘bike for long-distance touring.

The 16-inch solid disc wheels run true and are fitted with Dunlop tyres that still have plenty of tread.

The only item that needs attending to is a cracked offside mirror, but this should be cheap and easy to replace.

The motorcycle has been tastefully and judiciously modified with the addition of a Porker Pipes straight-through exhaust system and a sport carburettor. Thus equipped, it sounds amazing (although one MOT tester took exception to the decibel level, making it an advisory item…) and goes very well indeed! Please take the time to listen to the video, with the sound turned up, obviously.

(The original parts are included with the ‘bike.)

The Fat Boy rides perfectly, and pulls cleanly through all the gears. The brakes are powerful and bring the ‘bike to a halt smartly and in a straight line. It starts on the button and the owner tells us that there are no known faults.

The Fat Boy was last serviced in 2017 and has only covered an handful of miles since then. As such, it is ready to ride or display in a collection, depending on the new owner’s plans for it.

Valuing a motorcycle like this is difficult; there aren’t many Fat Boys for sale here in the United Kingdom, and the ones that are tend to be either newer or have more miles under their belts. So, the chance to buy an original classic 1340 example with a genuine and fully verifiable mileage of under 3,500 miles is not an opportunity that comes along very often.

Which is a bit of a long-winded way of saying that we expect it to fetch between £9,000 and £10,000 but, as always with our lots, the reserve is set much lower, so why not pop along and take a look at it for yourself? Who knows, you just be able to bag a bargain-basement early Christmas present for yourself!