And let's get something out of the way right off the top: this is an uncomfortable motorcycle to ride. With its undersized handlebars, feet-forward riding posture, and tiny mirrors, it's definitely not an all-day cruiser. These days, the Night Train is actually a bit of a dinosaur, and many of the styling cues found on it originated on do-it-yourself choppers and bobbers 20 and 30 years ago. The small handlebars, for example, were originally utilized by drag racers, then somehow found their way onto street machines. While conveying all kinds of attitude, they're impractical and uncomfortable and restrict the bike's handling. If you're not 30 or younger in age, you'll look like a bit of a prat riding this bike.

Power is served up by Harley newest version of the Twin Cam V-twin. In this configuration, it displaces 1584 cc and features sequential port fuel injection, two valves per cylinder, pushrods, a pair of internal camshafts, and internal engine counter-balancers. This is the "96B" engine and is exclusive to the Softail range. All the other "Big Twins" have essentially the same powerplant, but without the counter-balancers. The reason? Softails are rigid-mounted....the engine is bolted directly to the frame, in other words, without any rubber mounts, and used to be infamous for beating the daylights out of their riders....especially over the long haul. In the old days, if you rode a Softail from dawn ‘til dusk, you definitely knew about it at the end of the day, and the standing joke used to be that there was nothing "soft" about this bike at all, even though it has always had a pair of shock absorbers mounted horizontally under the frame.

Anyway, the 96B develops 89 foot-pounds of torque and about 65 horsepower, and is mated to a six-speed transmission, with Harley's traditional reinforced belt final drive. Don't look for high revving high end power with this drivetrain....it tops out at about 5500 rpm, but bottom end snap is prompt and plentiful. Interestingly, the 99B engine reaches maximum torque output at 2750 rpm, which is less than halfway through the rev range. Off the line, Harleys have always been tough to match, and that's still the case.

On the highway - not that you'll spend much time there with this particular machine - the 99B engine is also very much at home. It seems to like 120 - 130 km/h in this situation, but the Night Train lacks a tachometer, so I can only guess at engine rpms....I'd say in sixth, you're turning over at about 3500 rpm at that speed. Either way, this is the strongest and most usable incarnation yet of Harley's venerable air-cooled V-twin, and although it's less powerful than, oh, the new Yamaha Star Raider powerplant, is equally satisfying, in its own way.

Elsewhere, my test bike featured Harley's new "crimson red denim" paint job, and in a word, I hated it. It makes the bike look like it's been coated in primer and gives it an overall cheap look. I know that "old school" bikes with minimal glitz are coming back in popularity, but with a starting price of almost $18,000, this bike hardly qualifies as a backyard bobber, and one of Harley-Davidson's trademarks is beautiful paint. That said, Harleys are currently priced lower than they've been in at least ten years, and the Night Train is about on par with some of its competitors from Yamaha and Suzuki, if not lower. And, there are other paint choices, including pewter and at least three shades of black.

Some other highlights of the Night train include a meaty 200 mm rear wheel and tire, four piston front and single piston rear disc brakes, cast aluminum rear wheel, a 298-kilogram dry weight, a 680 mm seat height, and 18.9 litre Fat Bob gas tank with a built-in fuel gauge. Like all Harley products, the Night Train runs best when it's quaffing 91-octane or better, but will run on regular, in a pinch. In terms of fuel consumption, it returns 5.5 L/100 km on the highway, and 8.0 L/100 km in town.

Not that the typical buyer of this bike would be too concerned about that.