Have you ever wondered where the “Fat Freddie” Tire came From?  In this feature, Max Martin recalls about the inspiration and commencement of the Avon “Fat Freddie” Tire, also known as the start of the Wide Tire Craze!

If you have ever been to a custom bike show, rally or anywhere that custom Harley-Davidsons gather, you have no doubt seen the oversize or fat rear tired monsters. This is the story of how the oversized tire came about. Now you may be thinking that some marketing genius in a corner office behind a fancy desk dreamed it up.  Or that a bunch of marketing guys in a big conference room around a walnut table had a brain storming session. That might be the way some products come into existence, but that is not how the first oversized tire came to be.

When Dealer Expo used to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, there was as much business done in the bar as in the convention center.  I happened to be standing and talking with two well-known custom bike builders. Donnie Smith and Dave Perewitz, as well as the late Gene Koch who was a Drag Specialties sales rep. I asked Donnie if he could have any tire built for him, what he would want. I actually knew he was going to ask for a very large ‘Drag Race’ size tire but I asked anyway. He said “I want the largest tire you can make”. I told him I did not think that was what he really wanted because Avon at that time made some industrial applications that were quite large. The thing I found interesting was he wanted a 16” tire because the east coast roads were poor and the additional sidewall flex would help the ride. I knew the west coast look would have been for a low profile 18”

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So my next job was to determine exactly how wide we could go.  I started doing some research and determined the widest tire that would fit a stock HD frame without cutting the frame rails could be 8” wide. You would still have to offset the motor and make everything else yourself. Now I had to convince the factory in England to make it. This was in the days where everything was done by fax. I sent a fax to the UK saying I wanted them to build a 200/60H16. It went kind of like this:

UK: What is the application?

US: Nothing. It is for custom Harleys

UK: Is there a wheel for it? Will it fit? What do you have to do to put it on?

US: There is one rim available. You either have to use a custom frame (one available) or cut the back half of your stock Harley Davidson off and make everything else yourself.

UK: What will the front tire be?

US: Either a 90/90H21 or 90/90H19

UK: Wait a minute. You want us to build a tire that fits nothing, you have to cut you bike in half to put it on and you are going to put a little skinny little tire on the front?  Are you out of you mind?

US: Yes…trust me on this.

AM23 "Fat Freddie" 200/60B16

As they say the rest is history.

Honestly I never thought it would grow into what it is today. The 230 tire came next, and is still in production today.  This also started an entire trend and Hot Bike magazine awarded Avon Tyres the ‘1992 Innovative Product of the Year’.  In the 2000’s came the Venom 250, 300, and even the 330. 

Next I’ll tell you the story behind the Avon Gangster Tire.