Harley-Davidson has announced that its ostensibly entry-level Nightster will henceforth be priced at $9,999 in the United States – knocking a full $2,000 off the 2024 asking price. Annoyingly, an equivalent price drop doesn’t appear to have been applied to other markets – or, at least, not in the UK where I live.
The Nightster is part of the Sportster family that was overhauled for 2021, after the iconic platform’s air-cooled Evolution V-twin engines were retired in the face of evermore stringent environmental regulations. Driven by a liquid-cooled 975cc Revolution Max V-twin, the Nightster was introduced in 2022 as the baby of the family, seemingly targeted at newer riders.
I had a major problem with the Nightster when it was first unveiled. Not necessarily because it’s ugly (it is), and looks like it was made in China (it does), but because it was priced at just shy of £13,000.
By dropping the US price of the Nightster, Harley seems to be quietly acknowledging that this bike was overpriced. Arguably, it may also be acknowledging that it missed the mark somewhat in overhauling the Sportster platform. Anecdotal evidence suggests that dealers have been struggling to get them out of their doors – a sad turnaround for a platform that had previously been one of the MoCo’s best sellers, especially on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
One wonders if this is an issue that is fuelling the closure of so many UK Harley dealerships recently.
Meanwhile, a price reduction is a very big deal in Harley world. I can remember when previous Harley CEO Matt Levatich explained that H-D would never lower prices on bikes because it would serve as a betrayal to customers – an insult to the people who had previously bought them at a higher price, and a major hit to resale values. Perhaps Harley has sold so few Nightsters that there isn’t really anyone to betray.
Current exchange rates put US $9,999 at £7,725, which would be a very good price for an 89hp bike that has traction control and riding modes. But that is not what Harley is charging for the Nightster in the UK. Not even close.
OK, technically, the Nightster isn’t part of Harley-Davidson UK and Ireland’s 2025 line-up at all. The Nightster Special is, though, and that’s just a Nightster with a passenger pad, a (very cheap-looking) headlight cowl, and a starting price tag of £14,495. Go into a dealership in the UK, however, and I’ll bet you’ll have no trouble finding a 2024 Nightster for sale; it’s still on H-D’s UK website, priced at £13,295.
So, in addition to wondering how a passenger pad and a small bit of fairing can cost £1,200 (ie. the mark-up on a Nightster Special over a Nightster), I’m intrigued as to how Harley turns a £7,725 (US $9,999) bike into one costing £13,295.
To be fair, US prices are never listed with tax, whereas in the UK they are. In His Majesty’s United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, nearly everything has a Value Added Tax (VAT) of 20 percent. So, fine, let’s add that to our imaginary Nightster’s price, bringing it up to £9,270. That’s actually about what I’d expect this bike to cost. Honda’s CMX1100 Rebel has similar spec and arguably looks better than the Nightster (it certainly doesn’t look as cheap). It’s got a starting price of £9,799.
If you’re playing along outside the UK, the VAT is effectively a national sales tax, which, as it happens, is something that President Trump has suggested he would be interested in implementing. And some people might argue that this is effectively what he’s doing with his trade tariffs.
Speaking of which, you might be aware that the European Union is pretty unhappy with the idea of said tariffs and has threatened to implement retaliatory tariffs of 50 percent on all kinds of goods, including Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU but, in yet another example of why Brexit was such a boneheaded idea, that doesn’t matter. UK Harleys are distributed through the EU. I’m pretty sure that means that even UK bikes would be subject to these tariffs.
So, OK… if you add a 50 percent tariff cost to the £7,725 that the Nightster should cost, then add 20-percent VAT to that number, you arrive at £13,905.
BUT, here’s the problem: those 50-percent tariffs have not yet been implemented. If they happen, they won’t go into effect until April. So, for at least the next two weeks, Harley is overcharging UK Harley riders some £4,000 on a bike that plummets in value as soon as it rolls off the showroom floor.
Man, why can’t we just have nice things?
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