Harley-Davidson Nightster ..Nightrain Sportster..

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Harley-Davidson Nightster
The Sportster’s dark side
Mark Hoyer Cycle Guide 30/01/2007




When the late-release 2007 Harley-Davidson Nightster rolled around the corner for the first time at the Cycle World offices, everybody kept asking the same question: Is that thing legal? This was regarding the lack of center-mounted traditional taillight and the side-mounted, fold-away license plate. Never mind the fact that the rest of the cut-down, no-gloss, ultra-low machine is toughest looking Sportster in decades and hardly looks like a production bike. That was the very effect the bike's designer, 27-year-old Rich Christoph, was after.

“I wanted the bike to look illegal,” he says.

In that case, it's mission accomplished. But the rest of the styling riffs complete a pretty cool neo-retro package, from the ultra-low 26.3-inch seat, to rubber fork gaiters to the fender mounts and belt guard with “lightening holes” in them. The only thing different about the 1200cc engine is the special gray and black finished. Otherwise, it is the same fuel-injected package providing power to the rest of the Sportster 1200 line this year.


The Nightster's signature “badness,” combined stop/turn/taillights that do away with traditional center-mount light for a clean rear fender. Side-mount license-plate holder folds flush. Legal in all 50 states, says Harley.
“We went after some of the hot-rod and post-WWII influences, things to give the feel of handmade stuff and what you could do in your garage,” he says. “Like the front-fender supports' and belt guard's lightening holes. We tried to get rid of as many chrome pieces as possible. The handmade mentality even comes through in the seat. I wanted the light-color stitching so you could see that the seat didn't come out of a mold, so that you could see it was sewn. I wanted to emphasize that a lot of the work on these bikes is hand done. They are still hand-building FL tanks at the factory!”

Christoph (that's him on the bike in the lead photo, btw) was fortunate enough to work closely with Willie G. Davidson on the design and even got a special, inspiration boost laid out in front of him. “I'm always looking at Willie's bobber, a '47 Knuckle sitting about 20 feet from my desk,” says Christoph. “The rear fender is bobbed, front fender is off, it has straight pipes and is kick start—it's kind of your picture-perfect bobber.” Not a bad slice of H-D history, and owned by the Man himself. Christoph even says he tried to get the Nightster spec'd with a kickstarter, but apparently he didn't do enough burnouts. What, you ask? We'll let Christoph explain about his unorthodox method for getting his ideas accepted: “You've got to get people fired up about the bike, so you get out there and do burnouts and try to get people excited. It's the difference between getting something done or not.”


Like the rest of the line, a rubber-mounted engine and helically cut transmission gears make this the smoothest, most mechanically quiet Sportster ever. Stock pipes sound good. Fuel-injection is now standard on '07 Sportys.
Don't try that at one of the Big Four…

What was it like working with Willie G.? “I mean, come on, the guy is an absolute dream to work with,” says Christoph. “He's got that mentality that only old cats can have, having been in the industry so long. He's cool, solid—about as solid a cat as you want to be around. He's calm, but energetic and amazingly passionate.”

Christoph is a crazed motorcycle enthusiast whose first bike was a Honda CB175 (ex-Dad and ridden around the family's New Hampton, Iowa, farm) then followed it with a string of Kawasaki streetbikes. One of his favorites? An '86 ZX1000R. “It was sick fast for a kid,” he says. “At that age you don't understand death and speed, and that bike was both.” In college, he bought a Suzuki TL1000, which became a senior design project that he put to good use on the local highways (see photo gallery…). “It was my introduction to V-Twins and I'll never go back,” he says.

“I've been very fortunate here, especially to work on the project,” says Christoph.