Jordan Mastagni, 5 feet, 10 inches, 175 lbsHeads turned, eyes bulged, jaws dropped, and mouths watered as onlookers gazed upon this nostalgic-looking XL 1200N Nightster as I slowly cruised past them on Main Street in Huntington Beach, CA. Once I stepped from the bike to refuel, a certain gentleman literally ran toward me in the gas station parking lot and exclaimed, "That is one of the coolest f****ng bikes I have ever seen!"
"Cool" is definitely the adjective to describe the Nightster.
Since I own an '06 XL 1200C, my editor thought it made sense for me to take the Nightster for a spin, and in comparing my bike to the XL 1200N Nightster, the differences are subtle. My Sporty is more comfortable. I am used to forward controls, and the Nightster comes stock with mids. It's a simple fix, but that's the first thing I noticed, feeling like a big slouch on the much lower Nightster, with one-hour-plus rides being somewhat uncomfortable. The Nightster comes stock with a solo seat, so there were no passenger pegs for me to switch up my footing after riding in the same position on lengthier rides.
The Nightster is also fuel-injected, whereas my Sporty utilizes a carburetor. I didn't have to choke the Nightster in the mornings when I was ready to go for a ride. I simply turned the key and went.
I would give the Nightster five out of five stars on looks, four out of five stars on handling, and three out of five stars on comfort.