Jetgala - FALL-WINTER 2022

66 R of Harley-Davidson’s latest models on conditions for which each was made. My turn started on the Road aspect of the trip, and I was anxious to hop onto the new Harley-Davidson 2022 Nightster. ATrick-and-A-Half At 60kg soaking wet, it has always been a trick-and-a-half manoeuvring the larger hogs around. But now with the Nightster, weighing in at a skinny 218kg, for once, there is a model that I can handle with confidence. Led by one of the many Harley- Davidson marshals, the Road group headed out of the Bira Circuit, where the event was headquartered, in style.The Nightster I was on proved a delight to ride. Light and nimble, it had all the grunt of a Harley- Davison, but none of the heft that made riding some of the larger bikes difficult if you weren’t built like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. From a technical perspective, the Nightster features the brand-new Revolution Max 975T engine, and includes many of the new technologies in Harley- Davidson’s modern range. Chief among these are the Rider Safety Enhancements that allows the bike to match performance to available traction during acceleration, deceleration and braking.What this amount to is a bike that is easy to handle, go where you point it, and accelerate to speeds that are likely far beyond your capability (the top speed for the Nightster is a published 180km/h, if you need to know). More importantly, you can do this with one hand on the handlebars, and another checking messages on your phone – not that I’d advise you to do so, of course. The Nightster wasn’t the only new bike us two-wheel junkies got to OD on. Harley-Davidson also rolled out the new Low Rider ST powered by theV-Twin Milwaukee-Eight 117 powertrain that is targeted at riders who look for a ‘West Coast style’.The frame-mounted fairing gives this road machine added stature, while the high handlebars, and the compact, removable saddlebags lend themselves to a machine that is primed to chew up miles and miles of tarmac on longer rides. Throwing Caution to theWind For those looking for even more ultimate renditions of baggers, there were also a few of Harley-Davidson’s new Street Glide GT and Road Glide ST. Both bikes also have theV-Twin Milwaukee Eight 117 powertrain ‘under the hood’, and are equipped with Harley-Davidson’s full suite of Grand AmericanTouring features like Reflex linked Brembo brakes, Boom! Box GTS infotainment system with colour touch screen screen and navigation, cruise control and Daymaker LED headlamps.The difference is that the Street Glide GT boasts the iconic Harley-Davidson bat-wing fairing, while the Road Glide ST has an aerodynamic fame-mounted shark-nose fairing with dual headlamps.