Harley at heart.

(From Leicester Mercury)

Harley Davidson builds big bikes with purposeful sounding names - Electra Glide, Road King, Street Rod and also a couple with quirky names - Cross Bones and Street Bob.

But should you, like me, not be blessed with the stature of a rugby prop forward, you may want to consider the lighter end of the Harley range. And, more than that, you may want to consider one in particular - the Nightster, or XL1200N.

The latest addition to the Sportster range, the Nightster retails at an entirely reasonable GBP6,795 and weighs an agreeable 215kg. More importantly, the Nightster should appeal to those who would not normally consider an American motorcycle. Chrome has taken a backseat on the Nightster - not that it has a back seat, a pillion saddle is available from the accessories catalogue - replaced with gloss black on the wheel rims, handle bars, headlamp cowl, forks and rear springs. Another unusual addition is the modification of the tail lamp, or put another way, its complete removal.

What at first appears as just a pair of indicators is, in fact, an all-in-one set up, serving as tail light, brake lights and indicators. To achieve this Harley Davidson employed LED arrays for both the brakes and indicators. Whether this system proves bright enough remains to be seen, but it's clearly a different take on tail lighting.

Climbing aboard the Nightster I was surprised how unlike a Harley it felt. To date my experience of the Milwaukee bruisers is big laidback cruisers with a low seat and, foot pegs that allowed me to stretch my legs.

Not the Nightster. Although the seat height is still relatively low, the foot pegs take a more regular position closer to the rider and the wider, straighter handle bars offer an elbows out riding position.