Exposed wires and bulbous switchpods detract from the lean-and-mean look. The single gauge includes an analog speedometer and a multifunction digital display. The variable valve timing advances or retards intake camshaft timing over 40 degrees of crankshaft rotation, which broadens the powerband, improves combustion efficiency, and reduces emissions compared to fixed cam timing. The engine has roller-finger valve actuation, which reduces valve noise, and hydraulic lash adjusters, which eliminate the need for valve adjustments. This gives the RevMax a firing order and pulse feel like a 90-degree V-Twin. Mid-mount controls can create a cramped cockpit for taller riders.Īlthough the Nightster has a 60-degree vee angle between its cylinders, its two crankshaft connecting rod journals are offset by 30 degrees. The small speed screen looks cool and helps smooth airflow. We used all 32 degrees of available lean angle over and over. Packing 90 horses in a solid chassis and weighing just 481 lb, Harley’s latest RevMax-based Sportster is a serious corner carver. Claimed output on the Nightster is 90 hp at 7,500 rpm and 70 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm, whereas the Sportster S makes 121 hp and 94 lb-ft. Compared to the Sportster S, the Nightster’s RevMax not only has a smaller bore and a shorter stroke, it uses a single spark plug per cylinder rather than two, and variable valve timing is used only on the intake cam rather than on both the intake and exhaust cams. Likewise, there are two versions of the RH Sportsters, with the Sportster S displacing 1,252cc (105 x 72mm) and the Nightster displacing 975cc (97 x 66mm). Harley-Davidson has long had 1,200cc and 883cc versions of XL Sportsters in its lineup. It also takes its name from the Nightster XL1200N, a blacked-out, Evo-powered Sportster built from 2007 to 2012 that was part of Harley’s Dark Custom lineup. It has a solo seat and chopped fenders like the Iron 883, a small speed screen like the Iron 1200, and a side cover over the underseat fuel tank that’s reminiscent of a Sportster oil tank. It has an airbox cover that’s shaped like a peanut tank, a round air cleaner cover on the right side of the engine, and dual exposed rear shocks. The new Nightster, on the other hand, has classic Sportster styling elements. With its upswept pipes, mash-up of colors and finishes, and Fat Bob-inspired headlight and chunky tires, the Sportster S was intended to be a radical departure from the past. And it was lighter, more powerful, and more modern than the Forty-Eight, the only 1,200cc Evo-powered XL still in Harley’s lineup. It was liquid-cooled instead of air-cooled. Its model designation was RH instead of XL. When the Motor Company introduced the Sportster S for 2021, its name was the only thing it had in common with previous Sportsters. Introduced in 1957, the Sportster is old enough to qualify for Medicare, and it’s the longest-running model family in the 119-year history of Harley-Davidson. Reinventing an icon is never easy, and the Sportster is about as iconic as a motorcycle can get. The all new Harley-Davidson Nightster connects past to present with classic Sportster styling elements and the modern, modular Revolution Max engine platform.

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