Photo: Harley-Davidson
Less than a year ago, American bike maker Harley-Davidson pulled the wraps off the Nightster, with the motorcycle becoming the second model in the company’s Sport range. At the time of writing, there’s no way to tell how you can get one, as Harley seems to have de-listed it for a while both in the U.S. and Europe. Probably because something slightly better was in the pipeline: the Nightster Special.
The two-wheeler was introduced with a bunch of others on January 18, when Harley presented the first batch of refreshed, 2023 machines, but also gave us a taste of how the 120th anniversary of the brand, which takes place this year, will be celebrated at a product level.
Born out of the same need to make 2023 a year to remember, the “exhilarating” Nightster Special is basically the same one we got last year, but with a touch of extras.
At the core of the Special is the same Revolution Max 975T liquid-cooled V-Twin engine introduced last year. On the regular Nightster, it is rated at 89 hp and 95 Nm of torque, and that’s the same we get on this most recent variant, so we’re not talking about any major changes in this department.
The Special uses Brembo hardware for braking power, and can ride under three separate main settings, Road, Sport, and Rain (there’s a fourth in there as well, but it has no set name as it can be customized to the rider’s liking).
There are a few other things that set the two apart, though, and they all start where the bike meets the ground. It does so thanks to cast-aluminum wheels in satin black and wearing tires with pressure monitoring system.
The riding stance has been modified with the fitting of a riser, which lifts the handlebar by five inches (13 cm) - this alteration in turn brings the hand controls to a more comfortable position, two inches higher (five cm).
The bike received a four-inch TFT screen up front to allow viewing of the instruments and infotainment features, including one broadcasted via a Bluetooth connection. Controlling any of that is still done through the buttons on the hand controls. Navigation on the other hand comes by means of the Harley-Davidson dedicated app.
The 2023 Harley-Davidson Nightster Special is at the time of writing listed by Harley only on its European website, available in two colors, Vivid Black and Redline Red. The same location is where you can find the regular, 2022 model year, but none of them come with price stickers attached.
Over here in the U.S., no Nightster is available for now, so there’s no telling how much Harley will ask for the Special. For reference though, when it introduced the standard model in April last year, the sticker read $13,499. It was also available in another hue, Gunship Grey.
Born out of the same need to make 2023 a year to remember, the “exhilarating” Nightster Special is basically the same one we got last year, but with a touch of extras.
At the core of the Special is the same Revolution Max 975T liquid-cooled V-Twin engine introduced last year. On the regular Nightster, it is rated at 89 hp and 95 Nm of torque, and that’s the same we get on this most recent variant, so we’re not talking about any major changes in this department.
The Special uses Brembo hardware for braking power, and can ride under three separate main settings, Road, Sport, and Rain (there’s a fourth in there as well, but it has no set name as it can be customized to the rider’s liking).
There are a few other things that set the two apart, though, and they all start where the bike meets the ground. It does so thanks to cast-aluminum wheels in satin black and wearing tires with pressure monitoring system.
The riding stance has been modified with the fitting of a riser, which lifts the handlebar by five inches (13 cm) - this alteration in turn brings the hand controls to a more comfortable position, two inches higher (five cm).
The bike received a four-inch TFT screen up front to allow viewing of the instruments and infotainment features, including one broadcasted via a Bluetooth connection. Controlling any of that is still done through the buttons on the hand controls. Navigation on the other hand comes by means of the Harley-Davidson dedicated app.
The 2023 Harley-Davidson Nightster Special is at the time of writing listed by Harley only on its European website, available in two colors, Vivid Black and Redline Red. The same location is where you can find the regular, 2022 model year, but none of them come with price stickers attached.
Over here in the U.S., no Nightster is available for now, so there’s no telling how much Harley will ask for the Special. For reference though, when it introduced the standard model in April last year, the sticker read $13,499. It was also available in another hue, Gunship Grey.
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