The Cheapest Brand-New Harley You Can Buy In 2025 Is The Nightster

Harley-Davidson has never been one to use price as a selling point, with most models priced well into premium territory. Still, there’s always been an “entry” Harley for riders who want Milwaukee style without spending touring-bike money. For 2025, that role belongs to the Nightster, the modern Sportster successor that replaced the long-running Iron 883. With a starting price of $9,999, it’s officially the least expensive new Harley you can buy, at least until 2026, when the revived Sprint is set to return with a shockingly low $6,000 price tag. That will make the Sprint the new, entry-est of entry-level bikes for The MoCo.

Inside The Nightster’s Revolution Max 975T

Harley’s smallest Rev Max brings liquid cooling, torque, and rider tech in a compact package

Harley-Davidson

The beating heart of the Nightster is Harley’s new 975T, the smallest and most approachable member of the Rev Max family. Unlike the classic air-cooled V-Twins, it uses liquid cooling with a water jacket for tighter control and modern efficiency. Its unitized design houses the transmission in the same case, making for a compact, rigid drivetrain. Tuned for strong mid-range torque, the 975T balances performance with approachability, while standard rider aids like Traction Control and Drag-Torque Slip Control add confidence right out of the box. The result is a sleek, yet muscular, mien.

Nightster Engine And Performance Specifications

The Nightster Has Modern Bones With Classic Balance

Showa suspension, ABS, and light wheels give the Nightster sharp handling with Harley style

Harley-Davidson

The bones of the Nightster are another departure from Harley tradition, with a Trellis-style steel frame that uses the engine as a stressed member for strength and weight savings. Portions of the frame remain visible, adding a modern industrial edge to the design. Up front, Showa Dual Bending Valve forks deliver smoother damping than basic telescopics, while dual rear emulsion shocks with preload adjusters let you fine-tune comfort and load capacity. It’s a relatively light bike, so the single front anchor is sufficient, especially with the stock ABS feature running under the hood. Lightweight cast-alloy wheels round out the rolling chassis with minimal inertia and gyroscopic forces while under way.

Nightster Chassis And Suspension Specifications

You Can Feel The Sportster Spirit In The Design

Solo saddle, bar-end mirrors, and bold colorways give the Nightster classic style with contemporary flair

Harley-Davidson

The Nightster has some rather radical changes on board relative to the previous Sportster clan, but some things remain the same. It’s still a sporty pocket-cruiser like its forebears, and the flyline is actually quite in line with the long-established norm. However, gone are the classic peanut and walnut tanks that for so long adorned the Sportster line in favor of something new. It comes standard equipped with a solo saddle, so you’ll have to buy a pillion pad and passenger footpegs if you want to share the fun with a friend, but it doesn’t look like you’ll have to relocate the rear turn signals to mount some saddlebags, so that’s a plus.

Bar-end mirrors add some classic custom yummygoodness to the mix. It comes in a trio of colorways with Billiard Gray as the base-model color, Vivid Black as a $500 option, and Whiskey Fire for an extra $750. Liberal blackout coverage touches just about every place possible, including the fenders which match the Vivid Black tank well enough but remain black on the other two colorways.

Nightster Design Specifications And Dimensions

Nightster Special And Sportster S Step Up the Game As Nightster Alternatives

Extra features, TPMS, and bigger engines bring more performance and tech to Harley’s Sportster lineup

Harley-Davidson

The Nightster has an up-tier near-peer sibling in the lineup: the Nightster Special. This model comes with a few extra goodies. A stock pillion-pad and passenger footpegs let you share the fun with a friend right off the lot, and there’s a café racer-like cowling around the cyclops headlight. It comes in a total of four colorways for a little bit more variety in the selection with a TPMS feature to complete the “Special” package. MSRP is $12,499.

It also has a big brother in the Sportster S that takes things to the next level in a number of ways. The most obvious is the larger Revolution® Max 1250T that replaces the old Evolution® 1200 engine with performance that shames everything that came before under the Sportster banner. It also rocks the full array of goodies from Harley’s Rider Safety Enhancement systems menu for an uncommon level of tech on what was a fairly low-tech model-family just a few short years ago. MSRP reflects the increased performance and tech at $15,999.

Sportster Family Engine And Performance Specifications

The Nightster’s Competitor In The Wild: The Indian Scout Sixty Bobber

Budget-friendly bobber style and modern electronics make the Scout Sixty a strong middle-weight contender

Indian Motorcycle

H-D has to deal with a resurgent Indian Motorcycle, both domestic and abroad, and the Scout Sixty Bobber looks like a good candidate for the same slice of the budget-minded market. Like its counterpart, the engine is a classic V-twin, but it’s also water-cooled for different operation capabilities and a sleek, modern look. As a “ bobber,” it comes with some custom goodies such as the heavily whacked tins at both ends, and cut-outs in the exhaust shielding. Blackout rules the day, and while the base Scout Sixty Bobber comes only in Black Metallic for $9,999, the Limited package comes in a quartet of colorways with a robust electronics suite that helps drive the starting price up to $11,699 MSRP. ABS, Ride Modes, and traction control put it slightly below the Sportster S, but slightly above the base Nightster.

Harley-Davidson Nightster Vs. Indian Scout Sixty Bobber Engine And Performance Specifications