It's tough being the middle child. Not as popular or successful as your older sibling, or spoiled and adored as the baby of the family, the middle child is left to toil in relative anonymity.
Thus is the plight of the "fatbob" style Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Sandwiched somewhere in between the post-WWII-era bobber and the radically modified chopper movement of the 1960s and 70s, the under-appreciated fatbob style persists in the Motor Company's factory FX Softail line, but has largely fallen out of favor with many of today's trendsetting custom builders.
Even Andrew Howell, the owner of the bare bones black beauty seen here, was dreaming of a minimalist bike centered on the classic-but often used-Sportster peanut tank. With a basic concept in his head, Andrew contacted "Irish Rich" Ryan of Shamrock Fabrication to bring the bike to life. Irish Rich's build resume reads like an encyclopedia of old school cool, and he's long been a fan of the underappreciated fatbob. It was another one of his bikes, the "Banjo" fatbob, that rewrote Andrew's plans, and the peanut was shelved in favor of a set of 4.2 gallon OEM flatside tanks.
"If someone were to ask you to name one style of custom motorcycle that you thought had been perfected over the years, your answer would have to be the timeless beauty and simplicity of the fatbob Harley," Irish Rich said. "The combination of classic line and utilitarian roadability of a fatbob-styled Harley-Davidson cannot be denied."
The bike's timeless collected lines start with a Kraft/Tech rigid frame with 30 degrees of rake and no stretch. A DNA 2-over Springer was ordered to smooth the bumps out front, while a set of classic 60-spoke DNA wheels strung with matching Metzeler ME880 tires rounded out the roller.
The Spartan sheetmetal plan called only for a rear fender to be added to the aforementioned and defining fatbob fuel tanks. In an inspired bit of old bob technique, Irish Rich flipped a Kustomwerks "Ridgeline" Softail fender around, bobbed it, and relief cut it for the chain drive.