I'm thinking about buying buying a nightster. I never liked harley's until I saw this one. I like the retro look. Is their any other motorcycles that share this look? Regardlees of brand and how do they compare to the nightster? The only things I would upgrade are the shocks and maybe the seat. I'm 5' 10" so I think the nightster would fit me perfect.

 

6'6" 240lbs. Love mine, just got it, have no problem on rides. I did go to the two up Sidekick to include the wife. One ride later she demanded a sissy bar since we almost lost her a few times!
Love the bike (I know I said that already), I am considering going to Progressive on the rears though.
Enjoy!

 

there are a few sportsters that share this look:
the 883 Iron
and the 48

the 883 is a smaller engine but overall mostly the same except for some looks
the 48 is lower and has a few other changes (I'm not sure I would call them improvements)

I'm 5'10" 220 lbs and I had to install the forward controls on my nightster cause the mid controls were just a little too short in the leg length and were causing me to have pain in my hip. Test ride one first!

I hear good things about putting on FL shocks (Road King, Ultras, etc) on a Nightster. The seat could also use improvement... I put on over 200 miles this weekend and I wish I had a better seat. I am thinking of either going with a springer seat for a more retro look or a mustang seat for the comfort.

 

As NB said, the Iron and Forty-Eight are share a lot of the same attitude as the Nightster. Great raw bike. The shocks and seat seem to be the most common first upgrades (although I have 11K on the originals)...Well, maybe the exhaust! The Sportster line harkens back to the 1950's and although it has evolved, the lines of the original are still there.

As for other brands, Honda is trying to mimic the the Nightster with the new Shadow Phantom, but IMO, misses the mark by a large margin.

 

I'm 5'9" and it fits me fine. You can always go for forward controls if you need more leg room.

 

Same here, never was a motorcycle person before, but something about the Nightster made me wanna ride.

 

Getting to the "other brands" part: There are no other brands that are in this niche of a stripped down retro-look. There might be something available someday, but count on plenty of plastic where HD leans toward aluminum & steel. Go look at the Honda Fury and thump a few pieces to get my point.

 

I watched a comparison between that new blacked out Shadow and an Iron 883 the other day. They said that the Honda was lacking in power, performance, and aesthetics when compared to the Iron 883.

Since the OP is talking about getting the Nightster which has the 1200 in it, that new Shadow shouldn't even come close to the performance of the Nightster!

 

That Honda looks awkward; I used to have 2006 shadow spirit, a lot nicer looking than the new phantom, IMO. Anyhow, I traded up for the Nighster a little while back, and love it! Would never go back. I'm 5'5" and ride with fwd controls.

 

I hadn't heard of this new Shadow Phantom. Went to have a look-see, picture-wise.

Impressions from the pics - The front signal bar doesn't fit the image of a stripped-down raw-bike. The usual metric style tail-light and license plate setup is as ugly as ever. Rear mechanical drum brakes are usually just adequate, but even if of excellent quality they detract from the looks. Shaft drive robs power from an already weak (comparably) engine. Chrome mirrors don't fit with the image. Good to see they went with FI. Not too fond of 15 inch rear wheels - little tires have to make more revs for an equivalent speed, and that translates into wear. Two plugs per cylinder on a stock machine means (to me) that tune-ups are now more expensive because somebody decided to get fancy with the combustion chamber design rather than stick to proven and efficient designs already available (maybe nit-picking, but I keep bikes for years, as in 10 to 20, and generally pile the miles on, too. Costs matter). I like the looks of the air cleaner, but wonder if it is plastic. Same thing with turn signals, the headlight, and all the little "etc." pieces metric-makers use plastic on.

All-in-all - another metric clone that doesn't quite make it to top-shelf.