I'm stationed in Germany and I bought a 2007 Fatboy through the Military exhange program. I love the bike but still don't like the off center front wheel. I was wondering if they fixed it on the 2008 Fatboys. I know that they are starting to come out in the states. If they are centered then maybe the 2007 Fatboys could be fixed also? Thanks.

 

Hey Shelby,

They have centered the front wheel on the 2008 Fatboys. This also deletes the need to have cut-outs on fork slides.

The bad news is that the "Fix" was a change to the bike frame; some kind of torque they had to troubleshoot, and then fix it in the frame so everything would run true. There is no fix for the 2007 models.

Aparently there was some kind of pull or wandering when the original 2007 Fatboy was being developed. The cheaper fix for the Motor Company was to offset the frontwheel to correct it rather than rebuilding the frames. All of this happened when Harley was determined to place the 200mm rear tire on their Fatboys beginning in 2007 model year.

Sorry to bare the bad news.

 

Hey POORBOY nice bike!!! I have a 06 scremin eagle FAT BOY 103C.I., I truelly love this bike!! Even old people re-mark on how shiny and art work paint job, you can not keep a low profile on this bike!! But I'm sure you get the same re-marks, but any way I have never noticed the off set front tire!? So maybe you could help, my front is a 140/17 RoadWinder wheel, and I have 200/17 on back with RoadWinder wheels, but these where some of the extras! that make a C.V.O. and the high cost! So is my front tire OFFSET??!! It does not wander at high speed, and I can roll to a red light with both hands at my side till almost stopping, It is that true in the way it handles, is it the full disc wheel with the offset??!! And has this allways been this way with all other FAT BOYS built? Sorry for sounding or being dumb! But this is my 5th fat boy,and had to have the 05 Anniversery 95C.I., and then traded for 06, but still never had a wander problem, front tire on my 06 is allmost as wide as 05's! Sorry for rant have a day off so thought I would ask a poorboy as I am also with the money I have in my bike, but to me worth every penny! No engine mods. just sert, K&N, trip.plat plugs, 8mm wires, 2 in 1 header D&D, 1000 mile service dyno-tuned right at 100H.P & 100 Tourqe, I read where people are making 120H.P & 140 Tourqeand then I see all the engine work done and I'm sure not a wrench so even if they do all the work thats BIG bucks, but I have been wanting to give you COMPS. on your SLEDI love the copper & black!! TimeLess! LATER, PURPLE HAZE. P.S. at 1800 miles I changed from HARLEY synthetic to MOBIL ONE 20w 50w for 'V' TWINS and put MOBIL ONE tranny oil in, 75w 90w, shifts so much smoother!! And engine runs a lot cooler but never had a heat issue, but buy a service manuel for your bike I found mine on E-BAY for $55.00 tax and shipping new in wrapper from a harley shop up north, I live in D.F.W. 4 harley dealers pretty close by, but not one had a service manuel and said they would have to order 1 for me and $75.00 tax and all! Will sorry for being a pest need to leave the starbucks alone, but you looked about my age so thought I would say hello and comp. your bike and see if you can set me straight on off-set issue take care and ride safe!! PURPLE HAZE.

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Hey Purple Haze,

How wonderfully nice of you to say howdy! You bike is awesome and beyond words I can find to complement. Believe me when I say that I have bookmarked a couple of forum pages to have an instant peak at your setup. You really don't have much more to chrome-out do you?

The offset on thefront wheel is noticeable when you stare at the axle, and you'd have semi-circle cut-outs on your chrome inverted fork sleeves. I don't see any cut-outs on yours. The ScreeminEagles may have gotten some special attention by the MoCo before releasing them. You WOULD notice the offset if you had it.

And, as you have said, you aren't noticing any pull or wandering. The only other check would be to see if the back wheel rolls directly over where the front wheel went (when going straight). We've all seen the results of a pickup truck getting hit in the rear quarter. They never run straight again. In the rain you can see four seperate tire tracks even though the truck thinks it is running straight. I think this frametorque challange that Harley had is similar tothe pickup truck example.

I was told and then have read about the engineering challenges HD had when they went for the 200mm rear tire. THe ScreaminEagle bikes had the 200mm a year earlier, so maybe they were the first to get the softail frame change.

The more I think about it, I am very certain your bike is NOT affected by what the stock 07 Fatboys ended up with. As a matter of fact, those fork cut-outs were actually a factory recall for a bunch of bikes that already had been delivered.

Great hearing from you and thanks for the compliments!

Cheers!

 

I saw a 08 FatBoy in person over the weekend and the fork issue definetly has been fixed. I had to take a few looks at the new copper two tone color, the more I looked the more I liked, however I wasn't thrilled about the two tone seat scheme. But I do like the anniversary emblem better than the 07 graphics on the tins.

 

Thank You PoorBoy for the comps. and the in-fow! Hope we can chat again for some other mystery in our world! So be cool and I'm sure you are on your beauty of a Fat Boy! I'm watching EASY RIDER right now on A.M.C. channel, I'm about to strap a sleeping bag on it and head North and get out of this Heat! AHWW..... I best not my wife would kill me! But to watch this movie makes me want to blow this crowded ANT HILL and get my head right with nature and machine, Thanks for your help and be careful of the 4 wheelers!! PURPLE HAZE.

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I'm not understanding what you mean about fork cutouts. Could you clarify?

 

The 2007 FLSTF had the front wheel offset to the right to correct a tracking problem when the MOCO went to the larger rear tire. After some of the bikes were released it was discovered that the fork sliders made contact with the front fender so the cheap and easy correction was the MOCO cut slots into the inside of the sliders to make clearance for the fender.

See this thread https://www.hdforums.com/m_705083/tm.htm

 

The 2007 FLSTF had the front wheel offset to the right, is this a safty issue?

 

I have a 07 Fatboy and the wheel is off center, but it doesn't pull or wander or anything. I can ride without my hands on the bars and it goes straight. It was in for 3 recalls, I got one of the very first bikes off the line, and one was for the fork sheaths and I do have the cutouts now for extra clearance. One day while I was cleaning it I noticed it was off centered and checked into it a little bit, but it doesn't seem to bother me cause it runs/rides great. I know a lot of people were bothered by the cutouts from talking to the dealer.