Harley Davidson has filled a gap in its model line-up with the Nightster, using a 975cc version of the Revolution Max engine.

Meet the Harley Davidson Nightster

After all the rumours and teaser videos, Harley Davidson has finally debuted the new Nightster model, a baby brother to the 1250cc Sportster S.

Using a 975cc version of the Revolution Max water-cooled motor, producing 90bhp and 70lb.ft of torque, the Nightster has a more traditional Sportster look and feel about it. This was obviously felt to be important by H-D designers, as the Sportster S was such a departure from the original Sportster concept. That the Sportster S platform was versatile is shown by the fact the Nightster can adopt a more familiar profile.

This is a much more 'traditional' Harley Davidson, certainly in appearance. The petrol tank might look familiar, but it is actually a dummy tank, the 3-gallon gas tank being situated under the seat. Overall, there is more than a hint of the now-deceased Sportster Forty Eight than the Sportster S.

Powering the Nightster is the new Revolution Max 975T, a liquid cooled, 60° v-twin, tuned, according to Harley, for 'muscular torque.' There is variable valve timing with hydraulic lash adjustment and a balancer shaft smooths things out, but not too much. As Harley says, there is "just enough vibration to make the motorcycle feel alive.”

“We do want to retain some of the feel that’s so much of what Harley is about, yet we want to balance that with a comfortable ride,” said Kyle Wick, chief engineer on the Nightster project. “With an engine like this, where you go much higher into the rev range, it’s got a different characteristic. If you don’t balance this well, you can create a very poor experience. We want people to know they’re on a bike, that they’re on a Harley-Davidson.”

In line with the Sportster S, the engine is a structural component of the chassis. The swing-arm is now rectangular section welded steel and twin shocks that give more suspension travel compared to the Sportster S. Front forks are by Showa.

The Nightster will come with selectable ride modes - rain, road and sport - each providing a different combination of power delivery, engine-braking, antilock braking, and traction control.

With the gas tank under the seat, the dummy tank is now the airbox.

“We had to make a step change in the performance of Sportster,” said Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson’s vice president of design. “We knew we wanted to do that, and in order to do that there were certain airbox requirements in terms of volume, and of course we have range expectations as well for the product. When we combined fuel size and airbox size, there was no option for a smaller-proportioned, classic-looking Sportster tank. So we were really struggling with how to do this. We also wanted outboard dual shocks ‘cause that was part of the Sportster thing as well. We quickly realized that because of these two things, maybe fuel under the seat would be a good play for us. As soon as we did that it enabled the proportion that we needed with the fuel tank so we got the classic Sportster silhouette.

“We knew with the Rev Max architecture that we wanted tremendous breadth in terms of modularity. We knew with Adventure Touring bikes and something like Sportster S we could get away with it, because those bikes didn’t have previous forms that we had to embody. But Nightster had to look like a Sportster. As soon as you take away the loop frame that becomes a real challenge. We did a lot of proportional foam mock-ups, we made a lot of models of this bike. The first ones, I’ll admit, weren’t very successful and we had to do some serious soul searching, and that’s when we got the fuel under the seat and we finally figured out how to put it all together and it was a serious challenge.”

One. thing that Harley purists will appreciate is the low seat height. “This is a narrow bike and a low seat height and a low CG,” Wick said. “This bike is more approachable than arguably any bike in our lineup, and arguably any bike in this space.”

Nightster models are expected in US dealerships April of 2022, so almost immediately. The Nightster in Vivid Black is $13,499, with Gunship Gray or Redline Red coming in at $13,899.

This is truly a new era for Harley Davidson and one that has started with a bang. Now, all we need is the 975 engine to be put into the Pan America and the Bronx street fighter concept to be revived and the future of the bar-and-shield brand will be secure.