LEGO set 10269 (Harley-Davidson Fat Boy) is a masterpiece of art and engineering. The Fat Boy Harley-Davidson was always my dream bike growing up.

This build was a dream come true, my favorite hobbies merged into one activity. Harleys and LEGO! This set has 1023 pieces, which comes together with impeccable details that highlights Harley's dedication to perfection and performance. The moving chain and pushrods adds to the build experience.

For the cost, this is a great showpiece. I bought a Kingdom iDisplay case to place my Harley-Davidson Fat Boy LEGO set 10269 in to display for others to view and to keep the dust off. Born to ride!

This gorgeous set is really a piece of art. It looks amazing and it will fit perfectly in a room as a decorative object.

The back wheel is a monster it is twice larger than the front wheel.

It is very pleasant to built and to look at.

A must-have if you have a collection.

As a biker and Afol this was a must-buy, even if I'm not much of a fan of Harley Davidson. I ended up receiving it from Santa so I spent an enjoyable x-mas day afternoon building it. Read on for my verdict.

Box and Instructions

I really like the styling of the box. It's very dark; the background is a black brick wall and most of the bike is black and grey. They only bits of colour are the bike's bodywork, the LEGO logo and the Harley Davidson logo. On the side of the box are blueprint-type drawings while the back of the box shows the bike against a blue sky as well as a diagram showing the working engine.

The instruction book starts with a few pages of history of the Harley Davidson, similar to Architecture and Ideas sets. Strangely the large image of a Fat Boy at the start does not feature the dark red colour scheme that's modeled here. There are a few more information pages mixed in with the instructions. Those instructions themselves, all 140 pages of them, are of the usual high quality.

Parts

The 1023 parts are mainly black and light grey as you would expect from the pictures. Most are System, but there's a good few Technic parts for the frame and drivetrain.

There are some obvious unique parts in this set, such as the new tyres and specially designed rims, as well as the tiles printed with Harley Davidson logos. There are a few parts new in dark red and surprisingly part 4287 'Slope, Inverted 33 3 x 1' appears here for the first time in tan (apart from a limited edition set 15 years ago).

The logo tiles are the only printed parts. There's a sheet with 9 stickers for instruments, mirrors and registration plate.

Some people have complained about the lack of chrome but that doesn't bother me. Having chrome exhaust and forks wouldn't make sense, you'd have to replace nearly every grey part with chrome which would drive the price right up. Previous Creator Expert vehicles had no chrome and nobody complained.

Building

Building the bike was enjoyable. There is a logical sequence to the build and you always know which part you're working on. There is some Technic involved in the working engine and the angles of the frame and forks but that should not scare system/ Creator builders. Apart from the 43 links in the chain there is little repetition.

There are no revolutionary building techniques here but you'll admire the work that must have gone into creating the geometry of the bike.

The model

Overall the completed model looks great. The engine and exhaust leave you in no doubt that this is a Harley, and the shape of the tank (very important in the look of a bike) is really well done. It's full of details like the footboards, air filter, filler caps, push rods.

I do have some criticisms though. The handle bars are too straight but that can't be avoided. The stand to show the bike upright is unnecessary in my opinion as the bike looks better and more natural on its side stand but others might like it. There are more serious issues.

The headlight is probably my least favourite part; it just looks too square. The brake and clutch levers are too small. The lever part is an obvious choice but they just look silly. The front wheel has a brake disk, but no caliper. The rear brake disk is missing altogether.

A lot of design effort and a fair amount of parts have gone into a working engine that's completely invisible. As this really is a display model I feel that the drive train beyond the chain could have been left out.

The rims look great for this specific bike but I can't see them being used in any other sets and even for MOCs their use will be limited. I would have preferred a Harley model with a more generic rim.

Overall

Although not flawless, this is the best-looking motorbike LEGO has released, no doubt about that. Play value is pretty low (it rolls and steers and has a kick stand) but that's hardly the purpose. The value for money at $100 or €90 for 1023 parts is not impressive but that's what happens with a license.

Having said all that, I would recommend this set to almost anyone. There isn't a set like it at the moment. I hope it will do well so we'll see more motorbike sets in future.