2025 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Gray Ghost first look: Icon or eyesore?

Riding on the Softail platform that debuted just six years earlier, the Big Twin cruiser stood out with its beefy Hydra-Glide fork and solid-cast disc wheels. What made the maiden model even more distinctive was its Fine Silver Metallic paint, which Harley applied not just to the tank and fenders, but also to the frame. And so, the Gray Ghost was born.

Thirty-five years later, the Gray Ghost rises again, but this time, it’s more head-turning than ever.

Iconic enough?

Harley’s Icons Collection takes the brand’s seminal models and reimagines them as modern motorcycles. The Milwaukee-Eight Electra Glide served as the canvas for the Electra Glide Revival and Electra Glide Highway King. The Low Rider ST did its best FXR impression as the Low Rider El Diablo. Even the Heritage Classic cosplayed as the original Hydra-Glide for H-D’s nostalgic series.

The Gray Ghost is but the latest example of archival revivals. It doesn’t blindly stick to the source material, though. While the first Fat Boy was defined by its monochromatic silver paint, this Gray Ghost opts for a chrome-like finish instead.

To achieve the capital-R Reflective look, Harley utilized physical vapor deposition (PVD), which vaporizes a solid material (in this instance, aluminum alloy) in a vacuum and deposits it onto the parts (in this instance, the tank and fenders). A clear coat is then painted onto the tins to preserve the mirror-like appearance. Completing the look are chrome side covers and a silver-painted frame.

Underneath its flashy finish, the Gray Ghost holds onto all the new tricks the Fat Boy picked up in 2025. That includes ride modes (Sport, Road, and Rain) and cornering ABS, as well as lean-sensitive aids like traction control and drag torque slip control. As Lem Lem noted in his review of the Softail range, the suspension now features straight-rate springs, while all-around LED lighting fully modernizes the lineup.

Harley’s Milwaukee-Eight 117 V-Twin remains at the center of the Ghost’s tubular steel double-cradle frame, but it produces a claimed 101 horsepower and 122 foot-pounds of torque (compared to the base model’s 104 hp and 126 foot-pounds). That boils down to the circular air cleaner, which is often found on the Street Bob and Heritage Classic, but finds itself on the Gray Ghost for aesthetic accuracy.

Like all Icons Collection motorcycles, the Fat Boy Gray Ghost will be a limited-run production. As a play on the model’s 1990 debut, only 1,990 units will be available globally. The serialized bikes will roll into Harley dealers this month with a starting price of $25,399 — $2,800 over the base model’s $22,599 MSRP.

Icon or eyesore?

The Milwaukee manufacturer sees the Gray Ghost as a “bike you really have to see in person to appreciate," and invited Common Tread to a special unveiling at Laidlaw’s Harley-Davidson in Baldwin Park, California, to do just that. I didn’t battle through rush-hour traffic just to gawk at the shiny new Fat Boy, though.

The first four entries in the Icons series were faithful recreations of classic Hogs. That largely holds true with the Gray Ghost, with one clear exception: the mirror finish. In talking to Harley-Davidson Vice President of Design Brad Richards, I learned that the team wanted to do something “special” for the Fat Boy’s 35th anniversary. Hence, the PVD finish. Richards also revealed that he’d been waiting to “do a bike dipped in chrome.” The Gray Ghost presented the perfect opportunity to achieve both.

There’s no mistaking it, this Fat Boy is a statement piece. For me, the question isn’t whether or not the Gray Ghost is eye-catching — it’s whether it’s an eyesore. What will Harley-Davidson fans think? Admiring it from afar and up close is one thing, but will riders still revere that Reflective finish when its bouncing the midday sun back at you? Is it too loud? Is it too look-at-me? Those are all questions I plan to answer when Harley puts a Gray Ghost under my charge this summer. If you’d like to know anything else about the model, drop your questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to address them in my review.

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