It usually starts with a piqued interest. The recognition of V-Twin powered pipes in the distance. Sometimes the fever bites so hard it consumes your life. Other times it is a slow process by which you gradually become enveloped in the fever such as Richard LaPlante’s book called “Hog Fever.” That is exactly what happened here.
My son’s Taekwondo instructor, Kevin Henderson, saw my bike as I brought my little monkey in for training for the past two years. Although he had always thought of Harley’s as “old man’s bikes”, he saw something different in my bike. Most Bikernet readers realize I had stripped the chrome and trim off my 2005 Springer Classic and transformed my bike into something that could be considered a blessed hell-ride.
One day he approached me asking questions about the bikes my wife and I rode. At the beginning, I never thought he would seriously want a bike. I mean, to tell you the truth, he’s a Dallas Cowboys fan, so I wasn’t too sure he’d have what it takes to get a bike.
It wasn’t until he started borrowing my wife’s bike that I saw the fever building up in him. Before long, he was making trips to the dealer to ask about prices. I knew then it wouldn’t be long before he bought something.
Less than two weeks after we started riding, he pulls into my driveway with this blacked out ’08 Nightster. Out of the entire Sportster line-up, this is the only bike I truly dig. While most bikes sold by The Factory are nice, you still end up spending several thousand dollars trying to give it “the look” you want. The Nightster looks cool as it sits, except the pipes. Kevin had a pair of Vance and Hines pipes slapped on as soon as he could.
The stance of the bike is mean and very aggressive. I LOVE the way the bike handles, but the pipes scrape rather easily once the “feeler pegs” are removed from the footpegs. To tell you the truth, aesthetically this bike needs a set of aggressive mini-apes from Roland Sands and it could be considered finished.
Of course, being involved as I was, we had to take off the front fender and remove the gay reflectors. Just a little touch of machismo to separate the bike from stock.
Looking at the features of the bike and comparing them to a stock 883, the Nightster can be had for a great price of just under 10 grand, (the 883 starts at right under 7.) So, if you bought a stock 883, bored it to 1200, lowered the rear, moved the plate to the side remove the taillight, black out all the parts, you’d spend closer to 5 grand above the base price, rather than the 3 extra grand for the Nightster.
Trust me, I have an 883 Custom, and even with the lower shocks and Nightster seat, it still doesn’t compare to the rough and tumble feel of the new Bad Boy from H-D.
Oh yeah, and for any of you knuckleheads who want to call this a girl’s bike, try to keep up with it. The acceleration beats my bored out 95 inch Twin Cam and the top end is straight scary. I could cruise all day long at 90 on this bike without feeling like I’ve used a weed eater all afternoon. The owner of this little gem, Mr. Henderson, is a fifth degree blackbelt in Taekwondo as well as a 6-time world champion. I’d like to see someone tell him he rides a “girl’s bike”. Please call me before hand; I’d love to see what a 540 kick to the head would look like with a pair of combat boots!
I’d rank this bike as the best overall value for fun and looks. Like I said before, the bike comes straight from the Factory with plenty of attitude, and just enough black to make it cool.
Until next time.
