2012 Nightster too low?

[sloth]

My nephew just got a new nightster a few weeks ago. Seems to be having problems with the bike bottomong out. Not the tire to the fender but frame to black top, in the turns. Sounds like he,s catching a hump and it causes him a bit of trouble. Says he,s laid down the bike a couple times already. I looked at it today and it sure sits low. Had him get on it and lean it for me and didn,t look too bad to me. I see where the kick stand and a couple bolt heads for the exhaust have scraped.

He also had the guy from the dealership drive it home for him as he was in his car. When they get to his house the salesman says something to the effect of " Oh yeah, be careful cause this thing (the bike) tends to bottom out a little. Weird, why he didn,t tell him this fact when he was looking to buy the bike.

Any body ran into this problem or you think its just him? Good lookin scooter also.

[wrong_turn_rider]

Currious ... So how long has he been riding?

[Charlie-D]

My 2010 iron bottoms out on those plastic speed bumps in parking structures all the time, no matter how slow I'm going. I make sure to take it easy turning corners though and have yet to lay it down.

[Hagen]

They are pretty low. You can get longer shocks to raise it up. The free/easy fix would be to adjust the shocks to their highest setting and see if that helps any.

[modkaz]

The bike is definitely not designed to be a knee scraper... so if he is riding it like a sport bike then he for sure will scrape stuff.

I've had my nightster for about 3 years now, and I've even dropped the back end another inch, dont seem to have any problems and its never been down simply from bottoming out.

I only ever bottom out to the frame on speed humps and the such.

[oreocat1]

Tell him to adjust the shocks for his weight per the chart in the owners manual. He may need to go one or two clicks more if he still bottoms out.

[ialex2005i]

I'm a little curious how long he's been riding also. It sounds more like inexperience.

I own a 2011 Nightster and it's not too low. It's normal. It's not the bike bottoming out, it's his pegs hitting the ground. It's happened to me multiple times and it can be startling when you don't expect it. I think that is what's happening.

He could remove the peg feelers which might eliminate it happening most of the time. He could also slow down a bit and not lean so much in the turns, but where's the fun in that!?

[sloth]

His first bike, serious rookey. Like i said the bike does sit low but it seems to me the peg things would scrape first. I,ll mention the shock adjustment to him. He,s added some scratches and bent the shifter pretty damn good. Guess he needs more riding time? Though i believe he,s pretty reluctant to ride it much any more. Shame. We,ll see what happens. Thanks for your input folks.

[greenbud]

sloth,did you take the bike for a ride,see what you think,i hit my pegs and the kick stand getting it into the turns,scares the crap out of me sometimes,just a thought

[Monkey55]

He needs to take the safety course before he gets seriously hurt or hurts someone else.

A Sportster is not a beginner's bike.

E