Blue Harley-Davidson Fat Boy For The Blues
Deano was following his doctor’s orders when he purchased his first Harley-Davidson…
MY URGE TO get a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy was brought on by a recent health scare followed by a prolonged stay in hospital which included enduring countless x-rays and scans. I returned home from hospital to find my wife had shot through, which combined with the above was enough to bring on a bout of depression. My doctor suggested I shout myself something I’d always wanted to try and cheer myself up a bit. Hence, the Harley!
Having been racing motocross and boats most of my life, I felt it was time for a change and had a hankering for a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. Getting the hang of riding a bike that wasn’t motocross proved another challenge. I ended up having an altercation with some gravel, courtesy of a careless dump truck driver. I ended up in the median strip with a small dent in the tank and a scratched derby cover on the bike and a broken leg for me! Back to hospital once again for some screws and plates. All good till it got infected which resulted in more operations.
I found myself with plenty of time in a hospital bed to surf the net and choose a paint scheme. One of nurses was interested and helped with that. A mate of mine brought me in a copy of the Harley-Davidson parts catalog for some reading material and I must have looked at it front to back at least 10 times to pick out parts to order.
When I was finely discharged from hospital, I contacted Mark Walker, from Queensland Motorcycle Panel and Paint. I showed him the paint job I liked from an American web site. We had a meeting and changed it around a bit.
While the tins were off the bike, the parts we had ordered arrived, as well as the Midwestern bars from Burleigh Bars. That gave me some time to bolt on some parts, doing it from a wheelchair was no mean feat! I went mainly with the H-D Flames Collection. I think the headlight nacelle, bars and switches made a big difference. I kept the standard handlebar risers. I didn’t like the cap that goes over the risers.
So the end result is, I think, a really nice Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. I’ll probably have a bit of a break for now, but more chrome will go on the bike down the track.
I would like to thank Emma for the fantastic job of modelling with my bike.
Photos by Rod Cole; words by Deano
