Hi folks. I took the breakout for a test ride yesterday. While I was impressed with the ride and control of the bike, the one thing that worries me is the peg scraping. Especially since on my dyna I have floorboards and have noticed that some people put on mini floorboards on Breakouts. Is there a fix for the peg scraping? Risers possibly? New pegs?

Thanks

 

This topic has been discussed over and over again since the Breakout entered the market.

Simple fix (that you most likely don't want to hear) is: Ride slower, don't lean so far!

There are some measures to "slightly" improve the scraping e.g. different (straight) pegs as the stock ones have a downward offset, progressive fork springs to reduce the compression of the front suspension, progressive rear suspension.

Thus you will still be scraping the heals/pegs/brake lever etc. if you don't adapt your style of riding to the bike!
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Just change the pegs.

 

Why put money into a new motorcycle just to improve the stock handling?

Instead, use that money for a better handling motorcycle.

 

Softails have the worst ground clearance and the worst lean angle clearance of any Harley-Davidson currently being made.

They are beautiful motorcycles, with smooth running engines, and the vast majority of their owners love them.

However, if you like to ride a motorcycle quickly on curvy roads, this is not the model for you. You can spend a bunch of money to turn it into a Dyna or a Sportster, but it would make more sense financially to buy a motorcycle that meets your needs.

 

Basically what this fancy bold underlined portion here means, is...

If you don't want to have a good time, ride like a *****. If you want to live a little, scrape your **** and replace it once it's needed.

Ride the bike how you like, regardless of what other people say. Research upgrades and do them as you wish. Tweak, play, experiment, fail, repeat. Make your bike your own and make it ride how you want. They are just machines. You can literally manipulate them to do whatever you wish with the right parts and skills. Softails drag more than other model families, yes. I love the **** out of dragging floorboards in corners all the while riding around sport bikes and getting the WTF stare... It is possible to ride it like a race bike to a degree, you just need to figure it out.

 

Actually, no, that's not what it means.

I can drag the boards on my RG at 80. If I tried that exact same curve at the exact same speed with a Breakout I would go down at 60, because other than footboards, bolted/welded on **** doesn't fold up, and the bolted/welded on **** on Softails is closer to the ground than on any other Harley.

Period.

Decide how you want to ride, and buy a bike to match that. And, no, that doesn't mean you're a *****.

Push the wrong bike beyond its capabilities and you can die.

 

Sorry, but that's some very dangerous advice, IMO. Staying within the physical and technical limits of your bike does NOT suggest that you ride like a *****. You should always be aware what these limits are. This conceited ***** thing unfortunately costs the lives of numerous bikers every day/week/year.

You should have said "If you DON'T want to live a little longer, scrape your **** your heirs will replace it once it's needed.

Just my .02

 

Coming back to the main question...
As EagleRay correctly stated you can improve significantly the overall handling of a Breakout by:
1) change stock pegs with feelers installing another model without feelers. This simple mod alone will grant a few degrees more in lean angle.
2) changing front springs with more rigid ones (e.g. Progressive). Reducing the "dive" issue this mod will greatly enhance your ride, trajectories, peg scraping, etc.
3) change rear shocks would benefit the comfort and rideability of the bike as well as improving the lean angle by eliminating the bouncing effect of stock suspension.
4) More "extreme" and expensive mods like increasing front/rear wheel diameter (e.g. 23" front/21" rear), by raising the body of the bike could increase ground clearance and obviously lean angle. Also longer fork tubes are sometimes implemented. These mods are anyway less common to see due to cost, visual impact, etc...


The first three points together will of course be the best combo to improve the handling and will allow to enjoy and ride the BO like or even better than any other Softail model but, as other members said, within certain limits which are given by the frame structure and ground clearance of the bike itself.
Passing those limits, apart of not being safe, is only a ridiculous way to try to ride a Harley like a R1.
Just my .02

 

The Softail models & especially the Breakout are going to drag pegs/floorboards if rode aggressively. The lean angles are 23.4° L/R, the rake is 35°, 4.3"ground clearence & the wide rear tire just makes the bike not handle as well & drag. Even the Slim has a 32.1° rake, lean angles 24° RH, 24.9° LH & 4.9" Ground clearance. I've owned a FatBoy & they look cool, but they just drag & don't handle as well as a Dyna. Hell, my RoadGlide out handles a Softail. Look at all the specs on this HD website & check the difference between Softails, Dynas, Touring bikes. Educate yourself on line about rake, trail & lean angles. The Breakout is a great bike, but IMHO it just doesn't handle that well if ridden aggressively. By no means I'm suggesting you not buy a Breakout. Good luck in your venture. www.harley-davidson.com & go to motorcycles for the models & check out the specs on the different models