2018 Harley-Davidson Softail Fat Bob Review | MC Commute 

To be honest, it's not a bad bike, it just shouldn't cost that much.

A great bike! Just love it. Thanks for the vlog!

“Look out society, I’m riding a Harley Davidson” 😂 Great review.

It’s a Great bike. I Love mine. I’ve been lucky to have owned quite a few Harley’s over the years, loved them all and still do. But this one does it for me I love it soooo much. Well done Harley this is the all in one Harley Davidson, Fun, Fast, Looks Ace, Handles Great, So comfy it’s got it all. It’s my every day Harley. Some people don’t like the change but what I say is You love your choice of Harley and I love mine This One. Each to there own. Ride One.

Harely Davidson, the only company that people will watch a 14 minute video on. Simply to write hate comments about 😂😂.

YEEEEEEEEESSSS, I'M saving this one for Saturday breakfast, it's gonna be fun.

Hey Zack!!! You rock brother... Give Got me addicted to MC Commute... I admire your style of crazy, funny, intelligent rant... All the best guys!!!

Torque is what you feel when you accelerate. The pull... Horse power is the product of torque and RPM, mechanical work. So 100 for torque is just a massive feel of power, no matter the gear or speed -considering legal speed limits. Thanks for the review.

The reason the gauge is on the tank is so you can run any bar, fairing, even front end you want.

Love the turn signal buttons on my HD's One of my favourite features coming off an Aprilia.

I like the look with the new headlight. Does the stock headlight work well at night -- both far enough ahead and wide enough for cornering?

So true about the signals !!! Great video.

Whenever I see a rev counter on a chopper/custom/cruiser bike, especially Harleys, I think "Wow! They've gone modern!". Excellent video, guys!

Glad to see a fair and honest opinion of the bike according to you the rider. Appreciate your insight.

Im glad to see this review from you

Hey Zack, horsepower is nothing more than an equation of torque and distance (distance in a motor is rpm). This is why a bike like a Harley doesn't produce high horsepower numbers, they just don't turn the revs. Great videos! Love every one!!

I love MC Commute- always very entertaining and informative. Even (especially) with bikes I'm not interested in.

Ha! I love the HD blinker system. Love the look of the Fat Bob too, demo'd a 114 and thought it was pretty sweet.

The blinkers are great! 10,000 on mine and very happy with it.

The best bike is the bike that puts a smile on your face. Biggest smile is the winner. It's pretty simple. Thanks for the review😁

I did the fatbob thing for 25,000 miles it was fun to a point on flowing sections of road i would ride with my feet on the rear foot pegs to improve my center of gravity it helped a lot it served me well but had many flaws once it was out of warranty i moved on . The decision was made very easy by the poor after sales service i got from my dealer. I think a lot of viewers would might like to see some entry level bikes on the commute. I am patiently waiting waiting for the Z900RS to hit town.

I agree on the blinker comment. I always turn my blinkers back on after they’ve auto-cancelled 🤣

Blinkers: Will Shut Off automatically even in straight line after short time, so you simply never have to worry about them and keep on looking at the trafic. Having started with this type of system it was the opposite for me having to get used to remembering to SHUT them off on my then new 2016 Africa Twin and having to look down to be sure I did not forget them! Eventually you get used to either method - simply muscle memory in action eh! Good honest review by the way +1 on louder pipes :)

What size aerostich do you wear, did you have any special tailoring done?

New H-D marketing slogan at 11:23 : "The Fat Bob: It Beats Walking."

Regarding turn lights switches, I think H-D does the best ones ever, especially the autocancelling that works perfectly. Great bike overall 👍 Thanks for your video

I love the bars. Totally flat like my MT-01. A bit flat tracker-esque. Indicators: I prefer a switch on each end. Reminds me of my R1100GS. Works well. I like this bike apart from the excessive weight and feet-forward stance. My MT-01 weighhs 265 kg wet and tanked up. It produces 89 bhp and 110 ft/lb at 3,750 rpm (crank figures). It will see any sports bike off at the lights. Excellent video.

Nice and chunky, rugged-looking bike, I like it

Bike looks cool!

Did they fix the ignition keys being put next to the engine on Harleys yet?

I recently got a Sportster and I fully agree with the blinker spiel. I'm used to the separate controls by now, but half the time I'm still turning the signals back on when I try to cancel. It's a pain in the ass to check every time you make a turn, but it's what you gotta do.

I would be curious to see the dyno after pipes and a tune. and again after the HP cam.

I really dig your vids, thanks!! Have you guys ever done a ride review of a recent year Yamaha Vmax? Like 2012 and newer? Curious of your thoughts.

Good review!

The way to use the right blinker on a Harley is to reach over with your left hand and use the left thumb - that way you can continue throttling with your right hand without interruption, and your left hand has something to do. It’s like when you play the piano and cross over with the left hand to play notes to the right of the right hand. This has to do with the musical nature of Harley engines.

How would a 5’7” flare in this? Would u recommend?

When looking at HP/TQ numbers a good rule of thumb is the closer the two numbers are the harder the engine is working to turn the crank. When the HP is lower than torque (like some diesel motors) the motor is "working really hard".

Well , I figure you made some good points.

Zack -- I've taken to watching your older stuff 'cause I've missed ya', bro'!

HD engines are excellent. They don't generate a lot of horsepower, by design. They're designed to produce lots of torque, over a wide but low RPM band. That "power shape" is great for cruising. You guys are used to peaky crotch rocket engines that spin up to 10K, a completely different "power shape" that is great for racing.

Im with you on the blinkers. I rode my buddy's harley and every time i have to check to see if its off or on by cupping the blinker so i can see it blink. Im also huge on canceling the signal. I just finished riding scooters for many years. My recent scoot had a loud audible click relay. Man was that nice!

Good review. After an adjustment period I got used to the blinkers. I always cancel them before they auto cancel. You get used to it and I after awhile I never look down to see if it cancelled anymore as it does. Personal preference but you do get used to it.

Yay 😊 finally the new 2018 Harley Davidson Fat Bob

I test rode the 114 Fxfb yesterday and I thought it was really fun! Big clunky noisy experience

“...Harley Davidson...beats walking...”

I like the old BMW indicators which had the buttons on either side of te handlebars but had the separate cancel button on the right side.

I ride a 2017 soft tail slim s I have the same Issue on the blinkers as well I don’t understand why they have auto cancel on there

is it a fish eye thingy from the wide angle lens or the fork is bend...

Backing it in is my favorite part of your ride to work.

which one is to have 107 or 114 cc?

Had my Sportster 17 years and love the engine. But never get used to the indicators and they self cancel at the wrong time quite often. It has been a very reliable bike though, perhaps I got a good one :-)

What's the engine braking like on this bike?

I've rode this bike and the Softail Slim recently and they were the first Harley-Davidsons that I actually truly wholly enjoyed. You can poke fun at the numbers, but the Milwaukee Eight is certainly an engine that screams "I am finally moving forward with the times." And that's really what Harley-Davidson is trying to do with this year's models. Their demographic is *dying* and they need to cater to a younger market. I think they're taking a step in the right direction. I know everyone in their arm chairs gives HD all of the crap in the world, but seriously, go try one of these bikes. I'm not gonna say they're the best thing since sliced bread and they're maybe not a $16,000 kind of nice, but they are most positively very interesting and pleasant motorcycles to ride.

Test road this one back in Sep and loved it. But I ride a Drz400sm sooo 2 completely different bikes. Still leaning towards the Fj09 or even the Yamaha Striker

What did they do to the headlamp???????????

How are you achieving this great sound quality and helmet mounted action cam?

"watching the Toyota Highlanders go by" .....I had to laugh out loud :)

The blinker auto cancels at a certain degree of lean. If you're changing lanes then you would have to cancel the blinker on your own. If you make a right turn or left turn then the blinker auto cancels. FYI

"As usual, please feel free to suggest a bike you want to see featured here." Anything Zach is riding is worth a watch! Thanks Zach, like the commentary, love your skills. You should do a ride to work with Ari!!! Ride to work together, with your editing chops, I'm sure it could be top notch!!! Keep up the great work Motorcyclist! Thank you. Thank you. Kind of like the Indian/Harley's in Vegas, Eclipse hunting! But do the split video style, cut to whom is speaking while coming to the office!

Wow so many people don't understand torque curves and powerbands, or the main difference between sport bikes & cruisers. Maybe you should just try riding the bike than picking and choosing from a spec sheet that you don't even understand. Two different riding styles for two different goals.

Thank you for a great perspective. So, looks like everyone tend to compare it to X-Diavel or something, but for me the question would be how it would compare to a Triumph Rocket III. Any thoughts? Thank you. REPLY

The hole M8 NEWLINE up is AMAZING HARLEY WILL LIVE on for ALONG time to come

Agreed on the indicator control. Hate the fact you also have to sometimes loosen right hand grip to reach the button.. just ruins the throttle control.

Why is the torture so high and hp so low, can it be tuned to have higher hp

Never been an HD guy but I won a used Heritage Softail Classic and kept it about a year. The exhaust was embarrassingly loud. Otherwise I really enjoyed the ride and it was the only bike I could get my wife on.

Oh great another MC Commute! Oh weird it's a Harley.... I wonder how the comments are? Oh.... cancer.

Well, after doing my research on Harley's with the 103, 107, 110 & the 114... I was looking for a good handling for what it is, powerful... Especially torque, with slightly less vibration that has newer tech like available cruise control, ABS, digital readouts in the instrument cluster, full LED lighting, and great looks... I have decided to buy a low mile 2019-2021 H-D Fat Bob 114 for next spring. I wouldn't mind a 107 either, but the 114 doesn't cost much more, so that's my choice. I'm glad that's over with lol... It look me like two weeks to decide...

The thing about Harleys is that if anything is particularly good, it’s only “good for a Harley” and making something that’s just acceptably good costs WAY more than it does from anyone else.

Solid bike for people who like low end grunt - and decent looking. I was not a big fan of the cruiser riding position (mainly because it gets uncomfortable over 65 or so unless you have a lot of air control) but I do enjoy the off the line grunt of big cruisers. You have to watch them off the line or they'll walk away from you (up to 30-40 or so).

What's with the scrabmbler exhaust?

Are you sure you're dynoing that correctly? That's very odd that you only got 70something HP out of it. People are testing these aftermarket with 95+HP at the wheel with slipon exhuast.

Do you think its a good beginners bike for someone who has never ridden a motorcycle before and I am going to take my msf motorcycle course soon

Any chance of doing the The commute on the Motus?

I love Harley’s blinker controls

This video sums up the thoughts of most 25-30 year old's thoughts. I am 29, I owned a hd once..when I was much younger, went back to more sport bikes. I now am over that, looking for more of a cruiser again, but every time I think about getting a hd again, the low HP, high cost, and many options always make me look else ware. Probably the reason why hd is struggling. The people my age the COULD afford the cost of a new bike, end up buying something else..

Pipes!!! Yes, pipes are a must!!! Should come with Screaming Eagle or Vance & Hines option.

Question for the next MC Garage: 70 hp from 1800cc? Are they using cigarette lighters for sparkplugs and a wooden crankshaft or something?

I expected some Harley bashing before I began reading these comments. As far as the review of the turn signals, HD’s turn signals work great. They’re self cancelling, unlike on my sportbike. Never had issues with them on my Harley so I’m not sure what the dude in the video was complaining about. Anyone who compares a Harley or any other cruiser with a big v-twin to a bike built on a sport-bike platform doesn’t know much about bikes. An apples to apples comparison would be cruisers made by Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Indian and Triumph. Harley is right on par in performance when compared to those bikes....especially the new Harley’s with the new chassis and M-8 motor. Also, this myth about Harley’s unreliabilty goes back to the AMF days. Harley’s since then have been as reliable, and in some cases more reliable than their competition. My Harley has 35k miles, zero issues! I know people who have over 100k on their Harley’s with no issues other than having to replace some minor parts that have worn out over the years. Over the past 36 years and many different kinds of motorcycles my Harley’s have held up just as well, if not better, than my metrics. Most problem bikes that I’ve had experience with were BMW and Triumph. Truth is though that in todays world all mass manufactured bikes are basically reliable, while at the same time have their own quirks and lack in performance in one area or another. Whatever bike you have, maintain it properly and you’ll get good life out of it. And if you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, it’ll serve you best to keep your mouth shut because you sound like a moron if you don’t.

You CAN cancel a right blinker with your left thumb, two quick touches with your left thumb. Plenty of other bikes besides Harley have self canceling blinks

I rode pretty much the full line of new Milwaukee * bikes at a corporate Harley event at a local dealership. the engines are definitely fun but I couldn't get over the awful transmissions. Add to that the wooden brakes and mushy lifeless suspensions on all but a couple of them and I can see why they have a hard time attracting new riders. I sowed up ready to add a cruiser to the (almost full) garage but couldn't find one that wasn't embarrassingly under-engineered. Yamaha's cruisers are a massive improvement over Harleys but I want to ride the big Moto Guzzi before I decide. Hey Zack! Get a big Guzzi 1400 one day for your commute :)

yeah but tbh with a top speed of 110..you can comfortably cruise at 90 on this np. that's really all that matters. if you can cruise at highway speeds quickly and comfortably, the horse power doesn't matter. the torque more than makes up for it

The VROD, that's the cruiser for us sport bike guys.

My dream bike😘😘😘😘😘

I really enjoy your commute videos, but I have to be a little critical of the majority of bikes you choose to review, which are mostly large capacity, premium machines. This 675lb, 1,700cc behemoth is not what would be typically considered an ideal commuter bike (unless I suppose you have a huge budget and no environmental concerns). I have been using motorcycles as my primary transportation for more than 30 years, 12 months a year, and when I buy a bike for commuting I select it according to very specific criteria: 1) fuel economy 2) low insurance premiums 3) manouverability and agility 4) reliability 5) practical and durable finish (how well they stand up to everything the weather and roads throws at them is more important than beauty, especially here in Vancouver where the vast majority of my daily commutes are in rain). 6) enough performance to out accelerate most cars on the highway over short distances. 7) low purchase prices (this comes back to point 5; i.e., if you only ride on weekends in sunny weather then a Fat Bob, MV Agusta or Ducati Panigale may make sense, but they would not be sensible commuters). Granted, you live in sunny California and I realise that you commute on the bikes the manufacturers make available to you for long term testing, but for those viewers who are interested in purchasing commuter bikes it would be beneficial to see you test more of these machines and to talk more about the pros and cons of the different options (i.e., I would have expected to see you review all of the growing variety of 300cc sport and naked bikes, plus mid-sized twins like the FZ07 and SV650, single cylinder super motards and small and single cylinders trail bikes. These machines are not as glamorous or exciting as your usual fare, but would probably be relevant and beneficial to viewers who are interested in buying a commuter.

You've got to do the Triumph Speed Triple again with better road conditions. Thanks!

Love your little comments, man "Lost a little bit of fat, the Bob" :D:D

Starting at $17000? Get the fuck out of here! For that much you can buy a bike that will shit all over this in just about every metric.

The thing about the apparent lack of power compared to its competitors is that this engine is stubbornly different than most other bikes. Theyre engines are 45 degrees. I think the only other bike to get close to that is the m109r at 54 degrees. Their engines are torque monsters given their horsepower. The m109 is 100hp and 110ftlbs. The 107 is 70hp and 109 ftlbs. AND 100 percent of that torque is delivered at 2700 rpms. The only other bike that can do that is the rocket III and thats 2300 ccs. Factor in that harleys are still belt driven ( another stubborn feature ) and its really commendable that theyre putting those figures out with essentially outdated technology. Idk. Im not a harley guy, but i could see myself on one of these 2018 steeds.

For blinkers it is not a big problem at all when you use it a few days. In fact autoancel is super. You only push the button once and then forget

What bikes would you buy? Looking for something fun to ride around on...NC700X DCT, CB500F, or what? Open to Suggestions..what do you like Zack?

FZ-07 Commute?

The reasons Harley Davidsons have high torque and low horsepower is because they are long stroke narrow bore engines (under square) and they don’t rev very high. That’s the important part since horsepower is a math equation. They have tons of torque but they don’t rev much past 5k rpms because the pistons are moving so dang fast to make that long stroke and any faster they’d disintegrate being an inherently unbalanced pushrod v-twin. They have definitely mastered the most archaic engine design

#blinkerrant :-) I like the new Fat Bobs, they sure do look nice but I agree, I wouldn't choose it over other options. Zack I'd love to see a Commute on the new Honda CB650F!

They only do 71 HP so that you can buy their parts to make it gain more HP. So, you spend 17K on a bike and then spend 3K+ for more power. They are all about marketing and they are masters at it.

Liquid cooling?

I got motion sickness watching this time. Had a few good laughs though.

Would love one about the new Goldwing!

It's a beautiful bike.

If it's Harley you are used to this is a Quantum Leap.....I don't know if that's a backhanded compliment or what...but I'd ride it!

Used to ride my 2004 V-Rod from Massachusetts to Naples Florida and back, such a reliable bike. I ended up trading in my V-Rod for a brand new 2010 Fat Bob and could never trust it to go to the store 5 minutes away. Such an unreliable bike!