For the past few years, Harley-Davidson has suffered from a self-inflicted problem. The company had entirely ignored the entry-level motorcycle market, focusing on bikes tagged at $13,000 and up. Now, the company has finally realized the error of its ways, and as of this year you can now buy a 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster for $9,999. For the first time in too many years, there’s now a such thing as an affordable Harley, and the Nightster is actually a pretty cool bike.
Motorcycle manufacturers are desperate for more youthful riders to swing their legs over their iron horses. However, a lot of young folks aren’t sitting on $30,000 in the bank to buy the latest gigantic touring cruiser. Many motorcycle manufacturers, notably the likes of Honda, Royal Enfield, and CFMoto, have found a successful play in selling cheaper, yet still fun motorcycles. These companies all sell bikes for $10,000 and cheaper to anyone who wants to experience the thrill of buying a new bike, without having to resign themselves to eating ice cube soup for eternity to afford it.
Notably absent from any list of motorcycle manufacturers selling affordable bikes has been Harley-Davidson. The Motor Company from Milwaukee decided to spend most of the 2020s thus far focusing on high-end machines.
What might help Harley is its latest move: slashing the price of its cheapest bike, the Nightster, down to $9,999. Now, it has a price right on par with its Honda and Indian competition and might give a reason for younger riders to darken the black and orange showrooms.
Harley’s Entry-Level Problem
Normally, a motorcycle manufacturer reducing its prices wouldn’t be much news. However, this is an important move for Harley-Davidson. For a long time, Harley-Davidson had a strategy of selling a cheaper bike to a rider when they were young, locking them into the Harley life, and then selling that same rider a big cruiser once they were older and had more money.
This was one of Harley’s goals with its ownership of Buell Motorcycles. The idea was that a young rider would learn on the ultimate beginner bike, the Buell Blast, and then maybe they’d buy a Buell sportbike or a Harley-Davidson Sportster before moving on to a big cruiser later in life. Harley wanted to get riders hooked at an early age.
In the mid-2010s, Harley-Davidson expanded on this idea even more with the affordable Street 500, Street 750 (below), and their derivatives. At launch, a 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 500 was $6,700. Notably, the Street 500 was $1,200 cheaper than even the cheapest Sportster, which again, was a pretty big deal.
But it wasn’t meant to be. In 2021, Harley killed the Street series. At the time, a Street 500 was $6,899 and the Street 750 was $7,599. This left behind only the old Harley-Davidson Sportster platform, which had an entry price of $9,499 to get you an Iron 883. That wouldn’t last either, as the Sportster was killed off in 2022 and technically replaced by the $15,999 Sportster S and today’s bike, the Nightster.
This bike is based on Harley’s awesome Revolution Max platform. The RevMax, as it’s sometimes called, is a clean-sheet 60-degree V-twin architecture where engineers used modern techniques like finite element analysis to shave as much weight as they could from the engine. The engine sports forged aluminum pistons, nickel silicon carbide-surface galvanic coatings, ample magnesium parts, and Harley even engineered the engine to work as a structural member. The RevMax even has variable valve timing, independent hydraulic adjustment for the roller-finger valves, and dual counterbalances.
That doesn’t sound all that crazy given today’s technology, but that was practically space-age tech for Harley. The Revolution Max 1250 is even cooler when you look at its spec sheet. It’s an engine that makes 150 HP and 94 lb-ft of torque and all of that power comes on right before the engine’s 9,500 RPM redline. Yes, a Harley that revs to 9,500 RPM!
New Bones, Still Expensive
This engine found homes in the Pan America and Sportster S. Harley wanted to shake the old Sportster’s reputation as something dated and slow, so the all-new RevMax-based Sportster S went straight for power cruiser vibes. The RevMax under the tank pumped out 121 horsepower and 93 lb-ft of torque, which is some nice power for a bike of this type. Personally, I think Harley hit the Sportster S out of the park. It’s a brilliant machine.
But a problem came with the Sportster S, and it’s that the price ballooned to what is currently an MSRP of $15,999, which isn’t cheap by any measure. Harley’s solution came that same year with the Nightster. This blacked-out menace first made its appearance in 2007 and sold until 2012 on the old Sportster, but now it was making a comeback as a more affordable version of the new Sportster S power bike.
The biggest change here is the Revolution Max 975T. This V-twin is the RevMax but sleeved down. You’re still looking at 91 HP and 70 lb-ft of torque, which isn’t bad at all. The rest of the spec sheet wasn’t too bad, either. It weighs 481 pounds when loaded and the seat sits at just 27.1 inches when a rider is on it. Like the old Sportster, the Nightster is incredibly accessible for a wide variety of riders.
What wasn’t so accessible was the price. In 2022, the Nightster had a starting price of $13,499. Yep, the cheapest Harley in America had a starting price thousands more expensive than the competition. Harley did manage to get the price down to $12,000 by 2024.
The Harley’s primary competition came from the Indian Scout Sixty Bobber (above) and the Honda Rebel (below). In 2024, a Scout Sixty Bobber cost you $10,749 and for that price, you got a similarly-sized V-twin good for 78 HP and 65 lb-ft of torque. If your liter-size power cruiser didn’t need to come strictly from an American brand, Honda was willing to sell you a Rebel 1100 for $9,549. For that price, you got a bigger engine than what you got with Harley and Indian, but 80 HP and 70 lb-ft of torque.
Amazingly, not only does the Harley Nightster have the most power of its most direct competitors, but lower weight, too. Sadly, as Cycle World found out in a three-way performance test between the bikes above, the Harley was still the slowest. It wasn’t slowest by much, but the cheaper bikes did edge it out.
Time For A Change
This year, American bike manufacturers have clearly thought it’s time for a change. First, Indian Motorcycle dropped the price of the Scout Sixty Bobber to $9,999. Meanwhile, Honda has stayed the course with its Rebel 1100’s price of $9,549. But Harley? It decided to drop the price of the Nightster a whole $2,000 down to $9,999.
Now, after three years of being on the market, the Nightster has a price that’s truly competitive against its rivals. This is great. In the past, you might have chosen the Honda because it was $3,000 cheaper. Now, the Harley is only $450 more expensive than the Honda and is the same price as the Indian. Keep in mind that Honda dealers are notorious for markups, so it’s entirely possible you might find a Nightster for cheaper than the Rebel 1100.
So, all of this is great, right? Yes, with one caveat.
As of now, Harley is pitching the Nightster as its beginner bike. As our friends at RideApart report, Harley has a juicy incentive attached to the Nightster. If you learn how to ride through Harley’s Riding Academy or a similar learner course and can prove it within 180 days, you’ll be eligible for “Rider Training Graduates 5.99% APR financing,” which is offered through Harley-Davidson Financial Services.
This is wild. Many newbie riders train on little 125cc or 250cc motorcycles. If they learn at a Harley Rider Academy, they’ll ride a Harley 350cc X350 RA which makes about a third of the power of the Nightster. Moving directly from one of these puny bikes to a brand-new Nightster is a terrible idea.
To be clear, the Nightster sounds like a fun bike with a few drawbacks. Here’s what Cycle World said:
Here in the hills the Nightster came alive. The Rev Max 975T engine’s song was perfectly smooth from 4,000–6,000 rpm with strong roll-on power to pull you out of each turn. Suspension was taut and composed. The bike easily changes direction and holds through banked turns with just a little inside bar pressure. Small bumps mid-turn are easily disregarded and even larger square-edged hits are eaten up by the suspension with little disturbance. Brake performance is adequate, though more stopping power would be appreciated. Here’s where we finally felt connected to the Sportster, riding it hard and flowing left and right up the mountain. Flat spots at low rpm and traction control tuning matter little while you try to squeeze the most juice out of the ripe 975T.
When you go into a training class your instructor will tell you it’s best to start on a smaller bike and work your way up. Some coaches will go even further and say that you should skip the brand-new bike anyway because you’re likely to drop your bike while you’re learning. It hurts a whole lot less to drop a two-decade-old Kawasaki than it does a brand-new Harley.
So, I’m not sure you should take advantage of Harley’s new rider incentives as a new rider.
Ignoring that, it’s awesome that for the first time in too many years, Harley finally has a motorcycle with a starting price that could be considered affordable. Yes, I know there are a lot of cool bikes that you can get for under $10,000, but I dig this. It’s especially cool considering that you’re getting a modern platform and for the most part what sounds like a fun bike.
I’m not sure if this will save Harley’s slumping sales, but it’s sure a great start.
My days of riding big or even moderate displacement bikes are over, but I really like the shade of green on the top picture.
I had a neighbor that had some sort of Harley, and I let him ride my Suzuki V-Strom 1000 for maybe 20 minutes and he was kind of shaken about how much he liked it. Personally, that was my least favorite bike. But it idled with a lot less shake/vibration than his.
And, wow, the clunk getting his bike out of neutral and into first gear at a stop was like an order of magnitude more than the Suzuki. Clutch handle fully in.
Last thought on this topic, the H-D Museum in Milwaukee is amazing and worth a visit if you ever get close.
“The Revolution Max 1250 is even cooler when you look at its spec sheet. It’s an engine that makes 150 HP and 94 lb-ft of torque and all of that power comes on right before the engine’s 9,500 RPM redline. Yes, a Harley that revs to 9,500 RPM!”
Those are very typical industry number for the 1,000-1,200cc twin class. Hell, my decade-old Ducati produces those numbers: 150 bhp, 87.5 lb-ft at 7500 rpm and redline of 9250 rpm. And Ducati had that engine in production on showroom floors 20 years before Harley brought out the Revolution Max 1250.
I rode this bike when it came out, and it was surprising how much the engine wanted to rev–which is insane for a Harley. And it was legit fun to ride. Here’s hoping the price brings some riders in, because it’s these ‘untraditional’ Harleys that are the most interesting to me
The Harley is a 975cc twin, $10,000 staring price with 91 BHP and 71 lb-ft of torque.
Add an extra $800 and you can get a brand new MT09 with inverted forks, more power, similar torque and better build quality while weighing almost 60 lb less.
Going back to the $10,000 MSRP: Congratulations, for the price of 5 Honda VFR 800s you can make less power and have less performance than any one of them. Or you could have five Honda VFR800s with the best engine configuration for a bike (this is not a question, the V4 is best).
I guess this tracks for H-D, that they would be using techniques that have been around for 40+ years and think they’re modern 😛
I had over 10 Honda and Yamaha motorcycles since the very early 80’s. Went to the darkside of HD and picked up a Street Rod 750 ( ergonomically designed for a 150 lb Asian person) and a Ultra Limited which was a beautiful bike with the weight of a small aircraft carrier. Bought a new 2018 GoldWing and will never look back. A superior motorcycle in fit and finish and handling.
Oh, how is the handling on that Goldwing? I’ve ridden the 3rd and 4th gens but not the latest. That double wishbone front suspension definitely sounds interesting, and Honda was confident enough that they did the press launch event at their Motegi race track. I assume it must handle decently but wasn’t sure if it felt that different from traditional forks.
It is truly night and day. I can hit the brakes at any speed and there is ZERO dive. You stop now! It’s still a heavy bike but it feels like a 1000cc over anything those aircooleds are doing. Just a dream.
Great to hear, I really want to try one. But it seems most Japanese bike dealerships don’t allow test rides, even when you show up on a bike that cost as much as the one you’re interested in! Need to see if there’s a Honda demo day or something in my area.
I haven’t ridden the latest Gen Goldwing, but the 5th Gen GW I had for a couple of years, was pretty good. Above about 5 mph, it didn’t feel anywhere near as heavy as it was. The only thing that I wanted was a redline above 6K. Romp on it and it sounded like a Porsche, but the end of that symphony came too soon.
the other issue with harley is the bike that you want, the bike that is in your head when you think ” i want a harley” has 4-6k of optional extras that add up real fast. Want to add saddle bags? that will be $1,000. Want a windshield? $750 and so on and so on. And you also can’t simply RIDE a Harley without also wearing a HD jacket, that will be $700! Harley is not a motorcycle manufacturer they are a motorcycle accessories company with a lifestyle and apparel franchise on the side.
HD is the only motorcycle company where I’ve gone to a showroom and there was nothing there but t-shirts and merch. Not a single bike and no one working there knew anything about bikes.
I have to give it to HD, no other t-shirt company makes a better motorcycle.
Hey it works for Ferrari. HD just needs to open up their own theme park.
For someone who isn’t vertically challenged: many of these “entry” bikes are simply sized for people under 5’8”. I welcome new, “entry”, full sized bikes.
But, I will wholeheartedly agree that a used Suzuki GS500 will be a much better starter bike than this for virtually any new rider. It’s lighter, it’s cheaper, it might have been dropped already (so you won’t cry when you do it), it’s got enough power to get you swiftly to highway speeds but not enough to really get away from you, and it fits a wide array of adult riders.
If it were my money and I couldn’t be dissuaded from a litre-sized cruiser – I’d be shopping the Honda even if it cost me more for the build quality alone.
Well said. My first bike was a brand new ’80 Suzuki GS550. I originally was thinking a 450, but the sales rep told me (at 6’2″) I was going to be cramped on it and quickly want something bigger. I had that bike for five years and put 40,000+ miles on it before I sold it to a brother-in-law for a pittance. It ran fine. The paint on the tank was peeling and I had to replace the exhaust with 4-into-1 system because that was cheaper than the OEM replacements.
I put it down twice in that time. First time going around a corner from a stop light and didn’t see the diesel fuel (very slippery stuff, it turns out) and the second time on loose gravel pulling into my parents’ farm. No injuries and no significant damage to the bike.
I may be way off here but Harley’s biggest problem is its brand image IMO. At least for me the loud pipes save lives crowd just come off as selfish with no concern over anyone around them who want some peace and quiet (this also applies to Mustang’s, Charger’s, 350Z’s, and any other infamous obnoxiously loud vehicle). I say this as someone who’s Dad had Harley’s and grew up with them. Maybe I just had my fill of them.
Glad that Harley is again open for the starter set.
I’ve never really been a Harley fan, but after a trip to the Harley Museum in Milwaukee last summer, I found myself really wanting a Nightster. I’m not really into big cruisers, I don’t want a sport bike or anything like that, I just want something to ride once in a while that looks cool and is relatively comfortable. The Nightster seems to fit the bill.
Did the museum and Steel Toe tour a few years ago. The factory is surprisingly spartan and basic but it was great seeing bikes being “born…”