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Hey Ray, have you had it painted yet?? Not sure if the spoiler for ABS mounts differently, but I had the same issue, with the TB spoiler on my Rocker, and there was a fix. I didn't like where the front mounting bolt went through the spoiler, so I bolted a piece of steel to the original mounting hole and drilled another hole at the other end, moving the mounting hole location higher by a couple inches. When I fitted the spoiler it had a gap between the frame, but I was able to bend the new steel mounting tab back, pulling the spoiler up tight to the frame.
The principle and parts look identical...
Point is, I had my dealer prep fitted the spoiler. It was their first time to fit a Thunderbike spoiler and what they did is they followed instructions and the instructions came with the spoiler, by Thunderbike . Now the center mounting hole sits quite high on the front of the spoiler and will cause this unfavorable gap.
If you only had told me earlier
Edit: Nope, spoiler is not painted yet but drilled already and I also cut the air inlet hole into the front already....
Last edited by EagleRay; Nov 28, 2016 at 10:13 AM.
Point is, I had my dealer prep fitted the spoiler. It was their first time to fit a Thunderbike spoiler and what they did is they followed instructions and the instructions came with the spoiler, by Thunderbike . Now the center mounting hole sits quite high on the front of the spoiler and will cause this unfavorable gap.
If you only had told me earlier
Edit: Nope, spoiler is not painted yet but drilled already and I also cut the air inlet hole into the front already....
That looks good...and the top off that spoiler is a little different then mine in the way it comes down to more of a U in the middle, probably because of the ABS. So my fix wouldn't have worked for you anyway, I moved the mounting hole higher then the original location, and you don't have that option...
Keep in mind that gap between the tire and fender is to allow your wheel to move up and down without hitting your frame mounted fender. If you want a tight fender to rear tire gap, you typically need to mount the fender to the swing arm similar to the Rocker, or have a short Bobber style fender, and even then you have to be cautious your tire won't rub on the up stroke.
Great point. I like the idea of mounting the fender to the swing arm so that it pretty much can't scrape. But I'll leave that up to my mechanic. Sounds like the alternative is getting Progressive Suspension 422s.
Originally Posted by EagleRay
Hi and welcome to the Forums and the Breakout family!
For the back end all valid options have been listed by Rocker B already, nothing to add here. I've not installed the Thunderbike rear fender but lowered my rear by appr. 1" with Progressive Suspension 422s and I'm quite happy with the ride.
User Nostradamus74 runs the Thunderbike rear fender with Shotgun Shocks (air ride) and AFAIK he's quite happy with that setup. Be aware that installing the Thunderbike rear fender requires grinding on your frame where the fender mounting tabs are. Unfortunately that fender is not a direct bolt on.
As for the 21" rear wheel that's in the pic....I agree with Rocker B that the open wheel on the right looks quite nice, but that option implies serious work to be done to the left side and might even require cutting the swing arm, welding of brackets and mounting tabs etc. Also note not everything that is shown on those Thunderbike promotion pics really works for everyday riding. Did you check if they maintained the stock swing arm and what else they had do modify to fit the 21" wheel?
In terms of lowering the handlebars you could first try to use some short straight risers instead of using clip-on bars. Keep in mind that the complete speedo and indicator light unit relies on the handlebar clamp. Eliminating this clamp will bring up the issue of finding an alternative for the speedo etc. I don't know what's your height and/or arm length. I'm 6'4" with rather Gibbon-style arms With the Thunderbike flat risers (with 1" riser spacers) on my bike I find the forward lean to be on the limit...any more forward lean would be uncomfortable. Extended forward lean of your upper body combined with the forward position of your feet due to the mounting position of the pegs will make you look and feel like a swiss army knife....may look cool but won't feel cool after half an hour.
For the 23" wheel on the front....nothing I can say about that. I think I once saw a Breakout with one installed but can't really remember what it looked like....
Sounds like upping the wheel size is a huge PITA and probably pretty expensive. I'll stick with the stock 18" until I win the lotto.
For the handlebars, do you happen to have a photo of a bike with short straight risers? Everything I find has raised the bars instead of lowering them. So I'm not really sure how that would work. If we went with clip-ons we would move the speedo cluster to the left side of the bike.
Originally Posted by Rocker B
......Ya, and it will require body work!!! Grinding down the strut horns on the frame is a fairly easy DIY with the right tools, but for the price of that fender, I would have thought that it would come paint ready, made getting it painted a lot more expensive!!!
I'll pass that along to the mechanic. Thanks for the heads up. They're definitely expensive, especially if you get it with the taillights/blinkers. It's still being shipped so I can return it if a better option is out there. That was the only thing I could find.
Originally Posted by EagleRay
I just ordered the Thunderbike chin spoiler for my Breakout and had it fitted by my dealer before I hand it to the airbrush guy for painting. Same story there. Fitting that thing was a mess and it won't be a perfect fit leaving a 5 mm gap between the spoiler and the frame...
So conclusion is: Be careful with the Thunderbike parts they are nice to look at in the promo pics on their website. The parts are premium priced BUT, JMO, not premium built.
Good to know! Like I mentioned above, I only ordered Thunderbike because it seemed like the only option. Know of any other short back fenders?
Thanks everyone for the replies! I really appreciate it. Hard to find answers to some of these more specific questions!
Great point. I like the idea of mounting the fender to the swing arm so that it pretty much can't scrape. But I'll leave that up to my mechanic. Sounds like the alternative is getting Progressive Suspension 422s.
Sounds like upping the wheel size is a huge PITA and probably pretty expensive. I'll stick with the stock 18" until I win the lotto.
For the handlebars, do you happen to have a photo of a bike with short straight risers? Everything I find has raised the bars instead of lowering them. So I'm not really sure how that would work. If we went with clip-ons we would move the speedo cluster to the left side of the bike.
I'll pass that along to the mechanic. Thanks for the heads up. They're definitely expensive, especially if you get it with the taillights/blinkers. It's still being shipped so I can return it if a better option is out there. That was the only thing I could find.
Good to know! Like I mentioned above, I only ordered Thunderbike because it seemed like the only option. Know of any other short back fenders?
Thanks everyone for the replies! I really appreciate it. Hard to find answers to some of these more specific questions!
There are plenty of short rear fenders available for the Breakout. Heartland builds one as well.
Check out these links or do some research here on the forums:
There's a lot to read here so I don't even know it I'm replying to the correct question but #1 I think today no one judges things like mirrors, blinkers and the height of the rear fender when they look at a bike, it's just the way it is. #2.The only way you'd be able to get the fender less than a couple of inches is to mount it on the swingarm, obviously you have to use some type of tractor seat or you would be literately bouncing on your rear fender. #3 Weld your soft tail and turn it into a Hard Tail, LOL #4.You could install Tricky-Air and drop it everytime you park your bike... The best way to get looks!
#2.The only way you'd be able to get the fender less than a couple of inches is to mount it on the swingarm, obviously you have to use some type of tractor seat or you would be literately bouncing on your rear fender. !
Again....I only have 1" fender/tire clearance with the TB fender and the bike lowered, that's a lot smaller gap then it had with stock swingarm mounted fender, you do lose some suspension, but no tractor seat needed, the 422 shocks still have a little travel..... but yes, if you use a swingarm mounted fender you do need a seat that mounts up off the fender a few inches, leaving a gap, (which I don't like) or you will get bounced up/off it when you hit a bump!!!!
Last edited by Rocker B; Nov 28, 2016 at 03:25 PM.
Check my build thread for the Thunderbike Flat Riser kit pics, they might be useful.
Regarding the 21" rear/23" front upgrade I guess you can find some examples on Thunderbike website but, as EagleRay correctly stated, some mods might require more efforts than you expect. For example 23" front wheel won't fit stock fender but a specific shorter one is available but with 21" rear you need a different TB fender (72-72-160).
As Rocker B correctly said to close the gap between rear fender and wheel best solution is changing suspensions. Wide choice over there, Progressive, Legend Air Ride, Shotgun Shocks...
Regarding handlebars I guess you'd be very with TB Flat Risers...
Check my build thread for the Thunderbike Flat Riser kit pics, they might be useful.
Regarding the 21" rear/23" front upgrade I guess you can find some examples on Thunderbike website but, as EagleRay correctly stated, some mods might require more efforts than you expect. For example 23" front wheel won't fit stock fender but a specific shorter one is available but with 21" rear you need a different TB fender (72-72-160).
As Rocker B correctly said to close the gap between rear fender and wheel best solution is changing suspensions. Wide choice over there, Progressive, Legend Air Ride, Shotgun Shocks...
Regarding handlebars I guess you'd be very with TB Flat Risers...
Thanks for the link and taking so much time to document your mods! That's thread is going to be very helpful. Nice to see the TB rear fender on a finished bike. It's a little longer than I expected but it still looks good!
Originally Posted by EagleRay
There are plenty of short rear fenders available for the Breakout. Heartland builds one as well.
Check out these links or do some research here on the forums:
But here's some pics from the Thunderbike website with their flat risers
This a pic of user Nostradamus74's Breakout when he still had the flat risers installed, that I have now on my scoot
If you're interested in how clip-ons ride on a softail you might want to contact user Alain. He had them on his Rocker for a while, AFAIK
You see, a little research on here will take you to the answers to your questions
Hey Ray,
Thanks for helping out there. That breakout post is over 500 pages right now. I did some searches in the post but couldn't really get my specific questions nailed down. Your post has certainly helped with that!
Appreciate all the replies.
For now, it looks like I'll be moving forward with the TB rear fender. I'll leave the wheels and rims stock. It's too expensive to swap them.
As for closing that rear wheel gap; what I've gathered is that you can't close that gap up and then ride the bike unless the fender is mounted to the swingarm. But then you need a raised seat (which I don't really want) and I'm guessing that'd mean no passenger. Having a passenger seat is required for me!
So as far as the gap goes, new shocks can help reduce the gap but I don't need to worry about closing it completely.
I've got thunderbike fender on its way, plus shotgun shocks air ride, so will hopefully get plenty of pics to post over the winter as I do it, and report on how the fitting goes etc, certainly a good read this thread, as I was also thinking going 21'' rear but think I might just leave it as it is with the 18 cos it still looks sweet as.
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. Now the center mounting hole sits quite high on the front of the spoiler and will cause this unfavorable gap.
With the Thunderbike flat risers (with 1" riser spacers) on my bike I find the forward lean to be on the limit...any more forward lean would be uncomfortable. Extended forward lean of your upper body combined with the forward position of your feet due to the mounting position of the pegs will make you look and feel like a swiss army knife....may look cool but won't feel cool after half an hour.
