65 YEARS IN THE MAKING
The Harley-Davidson Sportster, introduced in 1957, boasts the secondlongest uninterrupted production run in motorcycling history. Only the Royal Enfield Bullet is older, 25 years the Sportster’s senior. However, the American-made icon has one big advantage over the now-Indian-made classic: it has seen considerable evolution over its decadeslong production run. And by far, the Sportster’s most radical change came with the introduction of the Revolution Max platform, which we first saw on the Sportster S model. To give you an example of how radical the changes are, the only part the 2022 Nightster tested here shares with the air-cooled Sportster is the license-plate bracket.
A few things that all Sportsters have shared in the past were a full-cradle frame, a 45-degree air-cooled V-twin, and pushrods. These are all gone on the Revolution Max platform. The chassis now uses a steel-trellis forward unit, a steel midsection that is attached to the rear of the engine, which incorporates the swingarm pivot, and a subframe that has shock and fender mounts. The engine is now an integral part of the chassis, and is used as a stressed member — gone are the twin downtubes visible on all Sportys of
