Yesterday I was invited to go ride a couple of Harley-Davidson motorcycles which I was eager to find out whether they would be good for the open road or on city streets, especially after recently riding the Indian FTR R Carbon, which was just awesome.
Firstly I rode the Sportster S which had oodles of power, was fun to ride but the fat front tyre made the handling in a bend a bit cumbersome and lots of counter steering was required. The suspension was set up to rattle my bones and chatter my teeth however this just needed to be set up properly. The benefit of the Sportster S is that there is lots of adjustability for both front and rear set ups.
Secondly I rode the Nightster. It was supposed to be the Nightster Special but a last minute problem with the demo bike registration meant I had to go out with the former. Apart from the pillion seat, rear footrests, taller handlebar risers and the same Sportster S digital display, there really isn’t any difference between the two.
The Nightster has the 975cc engine whereas the Sportster S has the 1250cc…and herein lies the massive difference. The Nightster just seemed underpowered and a bit feeble but it’s handling and all around riding experience was better that the Sportster S.
I have made separate once over reviews for both bikes but it appears that the best option is to have the 1250 engine with the Sportster S tune, and place that in the Nightster Special with uprated suspension…If it had that then it truly would be special…