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With the new-gen Revolution Max 975T engine and riding aids, the Harley Davidson Nightster previews how the future Sportsters from the brand will be.

In recent years, Harley-Davidson revised the lineup of its cruisers powered by Milwaukee-Eight 114 powertrains with all-new designs. However, a few people wanted something more radical and athletic but slightly smaller than those burly cruisers. Enters the Sportster S, a new-age sport bobber, which became the face of the new era that began at Harley-Davidson. The American giant wants to continue the streak with the all-new Nightster – a slightly more affordable and lesser radical than the Sportster S.

The Harley-Davidson Nightster is a new motorcycle in every sense while still retaining a few traditional virtues of the brand by being a low-slung motorcycle with many design bits evolved from the motorcycles of yesteryears. It is this beauty of the Nightster, which has attracted a lot of attention from many. There’s much more to this motorcycle, and we have tried to find out what all things make the Harley-Davidson Nightster a new star kid in the brand’s lineup.

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Compared to the big and burly-looking motorcycles from the cruiser family, the Harley-Davidson Nightster has a sense of sportiness in its design. While it still has the low-slung appeal of the traditional Harley-Davidson motorcycles, there is a sense of athleticism in its design, which makes it have a sporty aura around its look.

The elements which highlight the sportiness of the Harley-Davidson Nightster are the slim designs for the fuel tank, frame, and side body panels. The Nightster also offers tribute to the previous motorcycles from the Sportster family, evident in the shape of the airbox cover and exposed dual rear hydraulic coil springs. The athletic stance of the Harley-Davidson Nightster is further affirmed by the combination of the 19-inch front and 16-inch rear black alloy wheels, which have slim-looking spokes. Also, unlike most of the other Harley-Davdisons, the Nightster S has a flat handlebar like a flat-drag motorcycle.

The Harley-Davidson Nightster also gets a 4-inch round-themed instrument console, which houses an analog speedometer and an LCD panel for odometer, trip meters, gear position indicator, fuel range, clock, tachometer, and ride mode indication. While it misses out on the full-TFT instrument console like that on the Sportster S, we expect it might have been reserved for some other day in the future.

Inspired by the Revolution Max 1250 engine used in Sportster S, the new-gen Revolution Max 975T engine of the Harley-Davidson Nightster will chart a new path for the revival of the Sportster lineup. This short-stroke, 60-degree V-twin, 975cc engine features dual overhead camshafts, variable valve timing for the intake camshafts, and liquid cooling – all of these traits are unseen in the previous-gen cruisers from Harley-Davidson on sale right now.

In the Harley-Davidson Nightster, the Revolution Max 975T engine produces a maximum power output of 90 hp at 7,500 rpm and a maximum torque output of 70 lb-ft. Due to hydraulic valve lash adjustment, this engine has long service intervals. It also has counter-balancers, which ensure that the Nightster feels vibration-free at higher RPMs while improving the engine’s reliability. The Nightster is also the most affordable Harley-Davidson motorcycle to feature liquid-cooling against the air-cooled engines available in other cruisers. With the Revolution Max engine lineup, Harley-Davidson brought back the liquid cooling tech after a long time first in the Sportster S, and the 975T is the smallest and most accessible engine in that lineup.

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Size does matter, and it matters much when it comes to a motorcycle's riding dynamics. All the cruisers from Harley-Davidson feel heavy and are not as agile in the way they feel while riding. The Harley-Davidson Nightster allows you to take it easy and ride fast on stretches and corners wholeheartedly, thanks to the new suite of riding aids.

The Harley-Davidson Nightster comes with power modes, electronically-controlled engine braking, and traction control, making the Nightster the most affordable motorcycle from Harley-Davidson to get all of these features. There are three riding modes on offer – Road, Rain, and Sport, and all these ride modes allow the rider to alter the power delivery, engine braking, and settings of ABS and traction control. Using these modes offers the rider different riding experiences in varying riding conditions - something never experienced in a Harley-Davidson cruiser of its size.

With all the advancements it bears, which are expected to be there in the other future models from the Sportster family, the Nightster shows that Harley-Davidson is all game for embracing a change. And for that reason, it is a great sign of good things to come in the future.

Hailing from India, Jeo has grown up dreaming about a red-colored Porsche 911. This fascination led him to study more about cars and their functionality in his automotive engineering days from the past. His passion for writing about cars directed him towards blogging, which he has been doing for almost a decade.