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One of Harley’s whackier ‘image bikes’, in a similar vein to the Harley-Davidson Bad Boy, Street Bob and Night Rod. The Harley-Davidson Night Train is a Europe-only model based on the Softail. It’s lean, mean and very black and it goes pretty much as it looks. If you like the style of the Harley-Davidson Night Train you won’t be disappointed.
The Harley-Davidson Night Train delivers grunt, fabulous noise (especially if you bin the stock silencers and fit a pair of open cans), lazy, US-style cruising and… not a lot else. Harley’s engineering hasn’t moved on much since the 60s. For fans, that’s the appeal of a Harley-Davidson Night Train for others it’s an anathama.
With the Softail's harsh hidden shock rear end, the Harley-Davidson Night Train can’t match the twin shock Dynas for ride quality and handling, but it’s not desperate, either. The Harley-Davidson Night Train's braking also can’t match the twin disc-ed machines such as the Harley-Davidson Super Glide Sport.
Nothing to get excited about, true, but the Harley-Davidson Night Train has all the custom bells and whistles where it matters, all served up to provide a fairly classy, luxurious concoction. It’s not touring motorcycle but the Harley-Davidson Night Train will certainly pull the crowds.
Modern Harleys set the benchmark for paint and chrome work and the Harley-Davidson Night Train is no exception. What’s more, the Harley-Davidson Night Train's big engine is understressed and under engineered and, generally, the motorcycles themselves are ridden gently and regularly serviced.
The Harley-Davidson Night Train was around £12k when new and is regarded as something of a classy, iconic motorcycle, and is particularly desirable as such, keeping used values high |