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A FIREFIGHTER'S FAT BOY IS BOTH A DAILY RIDER AND A MEMORIAL
Joe Farri has a lot of emotion invested in this custom 1998 Fat Boy. When Joe was building this bike his brother Lou was dying of cancer, so during hospital visits the motorcycle project quickly became an easy topic of conversation. "The build was real personal," Joe says, "I was losing my brother, and it helped to be tied up in a project like this."
The Fat Boy is also the first motorcycle the Owings, Maryland, resident has ever owned. Although he rode dirt bikes as a kid, he never had his own machine until he was 43 years old. Married young and then with three children to care for, Joe never felt it was appropriate to indulge in his motorcycling dream. That is, until the kids grew up and it was time for him t finally do something about riding a motorcycle.
Joe, a firefighter, heard through a friend at the Prince George's County fire station that a 1998 Fat Boy was for sale. After viewing the bike, which was in good, low-mileage condition, Joe simply says he needed to get it and made the purchase. He bought the bike in 2000 and changed a few items over a period of two years. Different exhaust, custom grips and the addition of some chrome goodies helped individualize his Fat Boy, but Joe says these simple modifications "just weren't doing it for me." So Joe began visiting local bike builders, attending events such as Daytona Bike Week and Myrtle Beach, and reviewing custom motorcycle magazines. "I was constantly thinking about what I wanted to do with the Fat Boy," Joe recalls. "And I wanted to get a feel for what was out there, and who was building bikes."
What Joe discovered was that he couldn't fully appreciate a long, stretched-out chopper, nor did he want an extended look for his Fat Boy. He prefers a beefy, low-to-the-ground look, and wanted to incorporate a medieval theme in his paintwork. So Joe approached Roy Chamberlin at C&C Cycle in Crofton, Maryland, with his ideas. "I locked onto Roy because I appreciated the fact that not only is he the owner of the shop, but he's also the guy who works on the bikes," Joe says. Roy has been operating C&C Cycles for more than 22 years and remembers that when he first started out he was basically building bikes for a rougher clientele. "That was a time when it was mostly just the bad element who rode," Roy says. "But the whole custom scene has done a complete turnaround, and I have a very diverse clientele that ranges from billionaires to ditchdiggers." Machines created at C&C Cycle have been shipped north to Canada and as far south as Honduras. Roy has made a name for himself building what he calls the Pro-Street look, motorcycles with a low and lean stance. "Long front ends were done back in the 1970s," he says.
When Joe met Roy, he simply had a picture in a magazine. "He showed me a picture of a bike that had been customized, and said that was the style he was leaning towards, It was a Pro-Street-style custom that he showed me." The pair talked about Joe's custom Fat Boy project and ideas were shared. Joe originally wanted the bike to be finished in a bright color, but realized his budget wouldn't allow a complete teardown and repaint of the frame, tanks, and fenders. For the sake of simplicity, Roy suggested focusing on the tins and adding more horsepower to the Evo engine. The frame would be left along in its factory Harley-Davidson black finish.
With the bike on the bench, Roy stripped the Fat Boy back as far as necessary. A Custom Chrome wide-drive kit included a new swingarm, and a plate to shift the transmission to the left, so the final belt drive would clear the wide 200-series rear tire. In order to fit these items the primary and transmission were removed. The bottom end of the engine remained in the frame while the top end was take apart and freshened up with a Zipper's Hot Rod 80 kit. High performance heads and cam were included in the kit, while 10.5:1 Keith Black pistons were slipped into the stock bore H-D cylinders. Fuel is delivered to the engine through a CV carb fitted with a Yost Powertube, and spent gases exit via Vance & Hines Big Shots exhaust pipes. According to Roy, the massage 1340cc Evo produces 90 horsepower.
While work progressed on the motor and swingarm conversion, the front forks were separated from the frame, and the rear fender struts were removed. Simple modifications to the forks included chroming with the remainder of the front end parts staying in stock condition.
Joe picked out his wheels - 18" Carriage Works Hurricanes front and rear - and also ordered a matching rear brake disc cover and derby cover. Metzeler rubber wraps both Carriage Works rims, with the rear getting a meaty 200-18".
Both front and rear fenders were replaced with Russ Wernimont units. To achieve the Pro-Street look, the rear fender needed to be shorted to help show off the wide rear tire. The Wernimont rear fender is held in place with Drag Specialties struts.
As a firefighter, Joe felt a medieval paint scheme with firebreathing dragons and a dragon slayer would represent what he calls a good vs. evil theme. Custom Chrome stretch tanks with aviation caps and a winged oil tank were painted by Pro Artworks in black and Cinnamon Pearl with airbrushed dragons.
To give a finished appearance to the fuel tanks, C&C Cycle produced an ultra-thin ABS plastic dash to cover the gap between them. Usion rubber grommets and plastic tabs, the dash can be quickly removed for access to the turn signal relay. The ignition switch was moved to a wing on the oil tank, and a Dakota Digital speedo was mounted under the handlebars with a bracket produced by 50s Boys. The speedo is complemented by oil and neutral indicator lights. Final details included braided stainless steel lines for the fluids and cables all around.
Joe says that with the memory of his brother and all of the emotion wrapped up in the machine, "I'll never part with this bike. I love the thrill of riding it and people's reaction to it."
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