Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes Nightster first impression

The OL finally came to admit to herself that the Roadking is a bit heavy and awkward for her, and she was tired of having to have me roll it out for her to ride. So, we made a stop to look at the Crossbones springer. Well, they had 2 of those, but they were both sold 2 days after they came in. BUT, they had just put a customized Nightster in the showroom and it was love at first sight. It had been fitted with whitewall tires, 2 - 1 black pipes and black mini apes. First thing she did was push forward and backward all over the showroom to make good and sure she would be able to get it out on her own. Since it's 50 lb lighter than the next lightest Sportster, it looks like it's going to work.
She wanted me to ride it home, so I did. when I stood it up I almost threw it because it was so light. My first thought was, "Gee dad, it's a Whizzer!". It seemed to be quite nimble but, since it only had 7 miles on it, I didn't explore its performance. The ride seemed a bit on the stiff side, so I'll have to back off the preload for her.
It only has about 3 1/2 inches ground clearance. It looks really nice for the most part, having fork gaiters, a side license plate mount and combined tail/stop/signal lights. The crankcase and air filter are light gray powdercoat, which doesn't quite fit the theme of a blacked out bike. The hero buttons on the pegs stick out some 2 1/2 - 3 inches, very funny looking.
She'd better be happy with this one, I'm getting tired of her playing musical motorbikes.

I'm jealous, I want one, for my OL of course. I just have this feeling it would be like a monkey riding a football with me on it. Hope she enjoys it.

A buddy has one...I rode the pi$$ outr of it one day when he ws on mine. Let me tell ya, it is light and you can throw it in and out of a turn like a rocket. HOWEVER, the peg spark tenders will shoot a line of sparks off of them when leaned over just even a bit. This scared me because I had her leaned over at a slow speed and actually caught one and thought I was gonna throw the bike out from under me! At high speeds though, no issues. I wouldnt buy one for me, but I guess its alright. I cant stand those mid mounts on it. Why not another Triumph? I would love to have a pair sitting in my garage that the OL (as you put it-awesome by the way!) and I can ride. Either way you go, good luck!

you aren't hairy enough.

This one has the optional semi forward pegs, just right for her. The ones on the America are too far forward for her because of back problems. It's a day and a half trip to the nearest Triumph dealer and only 10 minutes to the hog pen, so that's where we went. The only other choices in town are honda davidson or yamaharly, and a cheap copy won't do.

The Nightster is a great-looking bike.
If I were a foot shorter I'd love to ride one!

She"s still stuck on the HDs, huh. Wendy loves her America and has no desire to own anything else. I like that since I am a Triumph guy for many years now.Hope she is happy with the new bike, that's what matters.

I just checked it out on their website and it is kind of an interesting looking bike. The hero pegs definitely look odd, though, all sticky-outy and stuff on mid-pegs. I also think the headlight on all of the sportster models looks too small. It doesn't need to be a huge bucket but it just doesn't look right to me. An air-cooled 1200? Why couldn't Triu... ok, I won't go there. European legislation probably killed any hopes for new air-cooled engines a long time ago. A 3.3 gallon tank? What kind of gas mileage does it get? I'm not trying to pan it, just asking questions that popped through my head as I was looking at the specs. I didn't want to jump to the conclusion that you don't need a big tank if you're just bar hopping, but...

While I was on the site I was also checking out the Night-rod special since that's a nice looking bike. I was doing the 360 view and when I got to the left side I looked at the engine and thought, "I know I've seen an engine that looks like that before, where did I..." Now don't lynch me for this but the spy shots of the new "Thunderbird" that we'll see eventually had a frighteningly similar design for the upper part of the barrels as the Nightrod. It had the "fins" around the cylinder head and the 2 "dots" that look like they are in line with where the overhead cams would be. Almost as though the engine was from the same manufacturer only it's a parallel twin instead of a V.

It's rated at 57 MPG highway, so the tank should last about as long as the average bladder.

HD makes air cooled engines up to 105 cubic inches but the cylinders aren't connected in the middle, which is the source of major cooling problems on large vertical twins.

I'm going to take a stab at posting a picture....

The whitewalls and the bars look great. Nice choice. The one harley I really like....

Congrats to Mrs. C. Did you trade the Road King? I'm thinking you got the Nightster and a pocket-load of cash to keep it in gas for the next couple of years anyway.

Regards,

Tom

Those are sharp rides. The white walls are a nice touch.

Sweet freaking ride!!!

I like the turn signal/brake light/running light combo and rear fender treatment they put together on the Nightster. Cool looking bike.

---Bob

A friend of mine just brought home a new Cross Bones this week. I like that Springer front-end.

I think the Nightster is a sharp looking bike, there'r selling a lot of them. I sat on one but never rode it.

Complaints I heard were that the forks felt "squishy" or "bouncy". And that they sit too low and may be uncomfortable. There is a tendancy for owners to upgrade the shocks.

I like the black trim. My '70 sportster has a lot of black on it. One complaint I have of my BA is that chrome dash panel and headlight reflecting the sun into my face!

always like the nightster, looks like a fun bike to blast around on

Frank

Yep! Gotta say whenever I'm on the road and see a Nightster so by, I give it a second look, alright! Nice lookin' ride! Really like that bobber look!


(tell the Mrs. she done good!!!)

I'll agree if harly does anything right its build nice looking bikes. And It looks like it fits Mrs Greybeard
very nicely.

Good luck to her with it

I really, really like the looks of the orange and black nighster ~~ glad to see that I am not alone in appreciating the appearance of the bike ~~ even if it is an HD.

I love the nightster, but its way over priced. And the guys at the HD dealership were total D*cks. So, I bought an America, and I love it.

You probably spoke for a lot of people out there. It kills me that a lot of your HD dealers act like there doing you some great service by letting you walk through their doors!