My son has a new '23 Nightster and the only lights he's got in the back are the turn signal stalks which are red for running, bright red for braking and yellow flash for turn signals. I'm not impressed with Harley's design here - it appears that they went for cost savings over rider safety. There's a license plate light and a ~1/2 inch tall reflector above the plate in a plastic extension to the rear fender. Seems to me that the plastic extension with the license plate light is a great opportunity for a custom replacement with a nice, bright attention-grabbing brake light, but I haven't found anything that would do that.
I've been googling for additional lighting for that bike and I find nothing specific for that model. We'd prefer not to do a lot of modifications to the metalwork, but I feel like the current setup is very inadequate and a safety concern. I have seen a couple stick-on LED strips that could possibly replace the reflector, but I'm curious what any of you have done.
(Not his specific bike, but the same year/model and good shot of the situation)
It has nothing to do with cost savings. It's the (minimalist) look they were after. The current design comports with the legacy design of the original Nightster.
Of course that setup isn't unique to the Nightsters... Street Bob, Breakout, Fat Boy, etc. all have this style. As to the effectiveness... I've ridden behind various HD's with this taillight setup. I've seen no issue with it. It works well and looks good. I like the style. I wouldn't mess with it. I prefer the plate being mounted on the side. That said, the only thing I do different on my Nightster is that I hang the plate vertically instead of horizontal. Doesn't stick out as much and looks better in my opinion.
He went for his first ride on the street yesterday (just got trained up and got his motorcycle endorsement) and I rode behind him in my Jeep (he wanted me to critique his riding and to provide a little cover for his six 'cause people drive like complete idjits around here). The brake lights were there but didn't stand out much - maybe I'm just being an overprotective dad here, but I think more visibility on the brake lights would be a good thing.
My cynicism on large companies may be showing in my earlier comments and I get what you're saying on the minimalist design, but I'd still like to add more lights to the rear - keep my boy safe!
It's pretty easy to add a tail/brake light to the fender. I've done it on several late model bikes for various reasons.
The only issue on that Sporty might be that the taillight may be angled up a bit. (see pic)
For safety reasons I added extra LED reflectors with lights to my Iron 883, the two red and two amber units only cost me £10, I easily spliced them into the stock wiring harness. As you can see below, they are very bright.
I also installed additional LED running and turn signal lights on the front too.
I kind of like the look of the minimalist style lights. But I can understand what you're talking about.
I would think the factory lights would be pretty bright, especially if they are LED. How bright were they when you drove behind him? Were they easily visible?
Some non domestic versions of the Nightster use a conventional tail/brake light so you could convert to that, though it might be expensive.
I've not been able to find this and my local dealership wasn't able to come up with it, either. LeadVenture appears to be a digital marketing cloud provider so that's not helpful. Any chance you could share a link where you found this?
Much appreciated!
Edit: did a reverse image search of the bike picture and found the UK dealership that posted it with a review of the bike: https://www.laguna.co.uk/harley-davi...dson-nightster
I sent them a contact request asking if the part can be ordered from them and what the cost might be.
I'll post something if I get a response.
Last edited by Crunchy; 04-23-2024 at 06:41 PM.
Reason: Update
I kind of like the look of the minimalist style lights. But I can understand what you're talking about.
I would think the factory lights would be pretty bright, especially if they are LED. How bright were they when you drove behind him? Were they easily visible?
They weren't very noticeable, which is why I'm looking for something to improve the visibility.
04-22-2024, 09:02 AM
'23 Nightster Better Brake Lights?
