That said, the Nightster’s flinty good looks come at a price.
The ultra-low seat height and slammed rear end cut suspension travel to just 2.4
inches, resulting in frequent pothole-related ass-kickings. Coupled with the
minimally padded roost, the jarring effect will have riders up on their pegs
when traversing some of the Metropolitan area’s more neglected roadways. Larger
riders will be looking to Progressive Suspension for a shock upgrade.
Quickly.
Slicing canyon roads on the Nightster, however, is an
unexpected joy. The bike’s power and agility encourage aggressive throttling
through turns, although the front end occasionally seems unsure when pushed
through uphill twists. Brakes are what you would expect on a
stripped-to-the-waist thug. The dual-piston front and single-piston rear receive
no complaints, but you will be leaning on your foot more often than expected
during quick stops.
For the generation now entering the cruiser market, the
pendulum appears to be swinging away from baroque chrome gorillas to stripped,
noir workhorses that evoke an era when fighter pilots returning home from the
war wanted to go fast, stop fast and not much else—witness the success of
Harley’s earlier take on the genre, the fundamentalist matte black Street Bob.
The Harley-Davidson Nightster effectively refines that disobedient philosophy.
Blunt, aggressive and offering an unembellished motorcycle experience, the
Nightster brings in the New Dark Age—and this time, it comes in two-tone.
www.harley-davidson.com
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