I'm putting this in a new post because some of this information can be found elsewhere on this forum but in my personal research on this subject I never found anything comprehensive and still had to do a bit of guessing when deciding to do this.

My first thought after deciding to buy the Breakout was that I would put the CVO bars on. I did not have a pleasant experience in the past on a Night Train after 3 solid hours of riding due to the drag bars/riding position.

After picking it up in May of last year I was really pleasantly suprised by how comfortable the bars ended up being. The seat position is much lower relative to the bars and that definitely helps for long term comfort. (75 miles is a short ride for me).

I did still however get some discomfort after 5-6 hours in the saddle and so during the winter months I had the CVO reduced reach chrome bar installed.

My observations:
- The bars don't look "better" per se then the stock bar. I really like both looks. I'd guess that if you prefer the "cruiser" bar look you will be very happy with the CVO bar; I definitely am happy (while still a huge fan of the stock look)

-The CVO bar works fine with the stock riser and no additional cable is needed. (My bike does not have ABS)

- The riding position is not as aggressive and so I found I was also not as aggressive as I usually am riding. I personally feel this is a positive change but your mileage may vary (The ability to ride aggressively was not impaired, just my unconsciounce desire to do it)

- The stock seat was designed for the drag bars more then it seems when riding with the stock bars. With my new seating position I get extra pressure above the tailbone (I'm 6', 212 lbs) and so I am now re-assessing my options for after market seats. I had decided on the Danny Gray air-hawk but if they designed for the drag bar position, that seat might also not serve me well. I'll have to start looking at what's available after market for the CVO or if the CVO even uses a different seat design. (Any good feedback a CVO owner has on this would be appreciated)

- The bike handles amazing now. I had no issues with the stock bars but it was definitely a situation of experienced rider as opposed to a result of engineering. Don't get me wrong, the Breakout with the stock bars handles just fine and I had no issues. With the CVO bars it's drastically improved upon even more. I can countersteer with my pinky now if I wanted to. The comfort curve through the lean angle is much higher though and scraping the feelers takes no effort at all. This isn't a negative so much as an adjustment needed in cornering. I'll be removing the feelers soon to give me more lean angle if I want it.

- Aside from the additional tailbone pressure (dealt with by using a zeppelin but that raises your seat profile), after adjusting my posture a bit, I rode comfortably all day with no lower back discomfort at all. It was all I could do to head home when I knew I was running out of minutes and degrees. This was a huge positive for me.

All said and done, I am glad I made the change. I kept my stock bar and will definitely switch it back if I end up getting another touring bike to do the real long rides with.

Hope this information helps anyone thinking about this modification.

 

I did the same thing within the first couple of weeks of picking mine up. In fact, when I bought it, I had them include the bar swap in my financing because I knew from the start I wanted the CVO bars on there.

 

BO looks nice with CVO bars, at the beginning I was considering them too but I like too much the aggressive look of stock dragbars. Nice looking ride dmlogs0!

 

Same thing here. I still want to put some 2" spacers on the drag bars to raise em up a bit but for now I am still riding stock. The CVO bars definitely look nice and look more comfortable but I can't sacrifice the style I love haha.

 

I'm trying to have custom risers for our BO and I'm still waiting for an answer. I asked for some risers identical to stock risers but a little bit taller and with greater pullback, about 1' or 1,5'. Honestly, even if it's a cheap solution, I don't like spacers. On BO risers are chromed, triple tree is mirror polished and spacers are usually satin finished....too many types of finishing. Maybe having the spacers polished and chromed would be a little better...IMHO.

 

I also had reduced reach or CVO bars put on so I didn't have to lean so much after about a month. I will say I started to get used to the drag bars but on longer runs I was done for the day. Now I feel alot better after a long run and enjoy the cruise feel. "Bike still has nice aggressive look"

 

Yeah, I really liked how those bars look on your bike HD and VETTE.

 

Thanks...they are cumfee also

 

Me too......installed 1.5" risers spacers on me and it's still not enough to sit more upright but I don't like how much the CVO bars change the look of the Breakout.

 

Harley_Charley, let see if the guy I contacted (thanks to 24V) will accept doing some new risers. Maybe an extra 1,5' on risers with a different angle (tall/pullback) will be better than simple 1,5' spacers. I'm worried that with a 2' increase, new risers wouldn't look so nice 'cause too long from a visual point of view.