NO FUSS HOG

Customisable, Modern, Affordable … the Harley-Davidson Nightster ticks a lot of boxes …

- NIGEL PATERSON

Designed from the ground up to be modified, built to be relatively light and easy to ride, styled to have retro cues with a modern look, the new Nightster is Harley-Davidson's way of offering fans of older sportsters something they can really relate to.

More traditional in style and design than the radical Sportster S, the Nightster has conventional wheel and tyre sizes rather than the fat 16s of its sibling. It's also fitted with easily replaced twin shocks, conventional forks and some neat bodywork ... plus it's three grand cheaper.

It's powered by a variant of the 1250 engine in the Sportster S. The smaller 975 Revolution Max actually displaces 975cc thanks to its heavily over-square bore and stroke, but it's not designed to be as rev-happy as some machines - low-down torque is a feature, the machine producing 95Nm at 5000rpm before peaking with 90hp at 7500.

It's a fun streetbike motor, fitted to a compact chassis and not just by Harley-Davidson standards, but also compared to other litre-class naked bikes. Weight is 218kg, which compares pretty well with lots of naked bikes, so I expected decent performance and wasn't disappointed.

"The Nightster is an instrument of expression and exploration, underpinned by performance," said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson. "By building on the 65-year Sportster legacy, the Nightster provides a canvas for creativity and personalisation, offering the ultimate platform for customisation and expression for new and existing riders."