A Nightingale in Flight

Harley Davidson XL 1200N Nightster

Call me a panderer if you like, but I think we can agree that generally speaking women are smarter than men. And science has proven that they have a higher tolerance for pain— no surprise to anyone who has ever witnessed childbirth. Not to mention the fact that shattering glass ceilings while holding a household together has got to breed a razor-sharp sense of fearlessness in the fairer sex. For these reasons and many more it makes sense that women are better suited for the saddle of a motorcycle than men. But quite often the desires of female motorcycle enthusiasts (or potential enthusiasts) are given short-shrift in the face of the grizzled hogs who dominate the motorcycle market-place. Well, we at the The Green Magazine have been keeping an eye out for the perfect bike for those women who are tired of the passenger seat and long for the solitary comforts of the open road. And it’s no surprise that the classic American behemoth, Harley-Davidson, has produced the pick of the litter: the XL 1200N Nightster.

With its minimalist design and vintage styling, the Nightster is the urban sophisticate’s dream and the suburban mother’s savior from a mid-life crisis. Because of its lowered suspension the Nightster’s seat is just a little over 25 inches off the ground, which means that you don’t have to have a super-model’s height to effectively maneuver this bike. Even more importantly the 1200cc Evolution engine provides the power to blow holes in any rhetoric about a woman’s proclivity for the slow lane. Slash-cut chrome mufflers, black fork gaiters, and a bullet-hole belt guard round off the bike’s back-to-the-future rebellious aesthetic. But the lucky woman who decides to drive this bike off of the lot is anything but a rebel without a cause. Her cause will be clear: wiping the pavement with yet another stereotype about what women can’t do.