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Message started by Scott2.0 on 07/23/11 at 13:27:03

Title: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by Scott2.0 on 07/23/11 at 13:27:03

I was at an event recently where Harley had a booth setup and I got to sit on a new Nightster. This bike just looked mean. Since then, I've become somewhat obsessed with it. I haven't gone in for a test ride yet because I have a feeling I'll leave much poorer if I do. Has anyone ridden either a Nightster or Sportster 1200 that can compare it to our bike? I know they're pretty different bikes and the Sporty is obviously much heavier but I can't stop thinking about it. Thanks!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6025/5968074472_f68e2f387a.jpg

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by firstsavage41 on 07/23/11 at 19:59:31

I work with a guy that has a Nightster (he loves it), we went out on a fathers day run together and my Savage hung right in there with him. Unfortunately he was followin a bit too close behind me, in a tight curve he looked in his mirror for just a second and didn't see me slowin for road hazards on this curve ( pot holes, and tree root bumps).. He almost caught my back wheel, over corrected and went down when his wheels caught the loose sand close to the road edge.. Luckily he had slowed down enough to avoid any major injury (probably less the 10mph when he went down)... Damage to the Nightster didn't seem too bad at first, scraped pipe, busted turn signal. it's when he got on it to ride again tht he discovered it must have hit the shifter and the bike was stuck in 5th gear...we did everything we could to get the shifter to free up..no way,it was stayin in 5th. Had to have the bike picked up..

3 weeks later he finally picked it up from the dealer (insurance job)...

Not sayin it's a bad bike, it's beautiful..Just remember it's not as inexpensive as our awesome thumpers...

i didn't ride it, but maybe this experience will help..Also, i should mention that my buddy is an old Thumper guy, so he knows the difference, and still loves his Nightster..

That's my 2 cents.. :)

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by Scott2.0 on 07/24/11 at 06:25:13

Man that's a crazy story. Glad he's OK. I'm a bit surprised the little thumper was able to keep up with the HD but that's pretty cool. I'm still curious if anyone's ridden both that can compare them. I guess I just need to muster up some self control and go for a test ride. Thanks!

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by firstsavage41 on 07/24/11 at 07:41:39

6959554E4E08140A3A0 wrote:

In the twisties the savage had zero issues keepin up, I'm pretty sure that if he decided to open it up on a long straight, the Nightster would walk away from me pretty fast. Even if you find someone that has actually ridden both, you"ll still just get an opinion. Everyone has a different outlook...

best way to find out if you like it, is to go ahead and test it out..I've had hardcore Harley guys get on my Savage and tell me that they had no idea the little 650 single could generate that much power, they changed their outlook after that :)

Good luck on your decision

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by gerald.hughes on 07/24/11 at 07:46:04

I have an 02 Savage that I have put 34,000+ miles on and an 08 Sportster 1200L that I have put a little over 2,000 miles on. The Sportster is now up for sale on CL. Enough said.

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by Scott2.0 on 07/24/11 at 08:11:42

494B5C4F424A00465B49464B5D2E0 wrote:

I have an 02 Savage that I have put 34,000+ miles on and an 08 Sportster 1200L that I have put a little over 2,000 miles on. The Sportster is now up for sale on CL. Enough said.

darn. I came here seeking some justification on dropping an extra $8-10k on the Sporty but it seems it's hard to replace the little thumpers that could. I still think I'll take it for a spin but you guys have made my checking account much less fearful!

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by Scott2.0 on 07/24/11 at 08:13:18

HAHA! I wrote out d-a-m-n and the forum changed it to darn. Never seen that before. I guess we have an instant TV-movie-edition censor built in!

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/24/11 at 10:06:28

No nuts, man,,

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by LostArtist on 07/25/11 at 08:43:13

the nightster has a vicious ride, not much travel and the engine shakes you through and through, the Iron 883 is much better, smaller engine, less shakin' and seemed to have better road manners than the nightster, both handle good though. the Savage is a much better value though. I love how the nightster looks, then I test rode one at a Harley Demo Days event (look for them in your area, harley has them all over where they bring a truck with their line up and you can test ride pretty much all you want all day and no real pressure to buy, unlike dealership test rides) The ride on the nightster ruined the bike for me, just vicious, that seat is a pan, no real padding there and with the shaking from the engine, kinda made it worse. The sportster 1200 is better though, the seat has a bit more cushion to it so helps absorb the shaking a bit. There's no huge benefit from going from a Suzuki Savage/S-40 to a sportster (any of them) though. only real benefit is no valve check. The highway won't be very comfortable on either the sportsters or the savage, if you are used to the savage just keep it, mod it and make it rule! and just fyi, a triumph bonneville is about the same cost as an 883 and has more horsepower than a 1200 better ride and handling too, if you can get past the sit on top not in feel of it.

there are lots of options for bikes like the sportster 1200, I'd check them all out, suzuki has a few options that I think are pretty close to the sportster/nightster in looks and style, check out the intruders/s-50 and s-83 (vs800 and vs1400). Honda Shadow RS is cool too.

main drawback to the nightster besides the harsh ridin is lack of passenger stuff and where do you put bags?? and stuff like that, it's good for a single barhopper in town riding maybe even commuting if you don't have too much highway but wont' be good for long road trips if you're into that kinda thing or going in that direction

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by danthewrenchingman on 07/26/11 at 10:04:38

I haven't been riding long, but it seems the only sportster fan's are the people that own them.

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by Scott2.0 on 07/26/11 at 18:11:17

484D425844495E454845424B414D422C0 wrote:

I haven't been riding long, but it seems the only sportster fan's are the people that own them.

I don't really see the point. I bet there aren't a ton of Savage fans other than those that own them, right?

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by MMRanch on 07/26/11 at 22:41:11

Scott

I've got a 98 Savage that I have put 35,000 miles on (42,000 total) and a 2004 Sportster 1200R that I've put 1500 miles on.

The good thing about the Sportster is its: Hydrolic lifters and push-rod valves., single carb. , 55 mpg. , rubber mounted motor , and dual front disk brakes. Its belt drive and geared to top-out about 140 mph. @ 6000 rpm.

but

in the twisties the Savage will eat the Sportster's lunch ! ;)

If I could only have one bike the Sportster would have to go .

They both have the same kind of power. Sportster just has twice as much. :o

But how much power does a bike really need to be fun ?

Title: Re: Sportster/Nightster Comparisons?
Post by T Mack 1 - FSO on 07/30/11 at 18:58:27

Had a '01 LS650 that had a loud muffler and was re-jetted (see my avatar). It was fun. I woke up many a Harley pulling out and being right there with them. People would come up a look at what was making all that noise. (compression braking was a growling rumble... 8-) ). My son and I loved going on rides together.

Unfortunately, he grew and since I'm 5'11", we ran out of room on the bike. (I really wish the LS650 was about 6 inches longer.... :( )

So I picked up a fixer-upper Sportster on eBay. Turns out it's a rare model (1986 XLH 1100 , 1st year for the EVO engine and they were pushing the 883's not the large displacement bikes) . It has special heads made only in '86 and early '87 (sand-cast, large valves, with a shaped combustion chamber, they're referred to as "bathtub heads" because of the chamber shape). Rare, powerful ...but..... no one looks at it. I just blend into the crowd.

I do miss the Savage......