Wasn't sure whether to drop this in the 2018 Breakout thread, but in the end figured it made more sense to start its own thread.
I spoke to my dealer the other day and he said they looked into it and no, they don't. But he also admitted they only considered a straight swap and he could see no reason they couldn't be made to fit with different spacers etc. So I was hoping to explore this avenue of thought.

Making suitable spacers is no problem, but differences in axle and bearing diameters, disk spacing and overall widths can be more problematic and I'd like to get some idea about this before ordering a new Breakout, which with winter approaching is likely to be early next year.

Has anyone actually tried this and can comment from personal experience, or has the actual dimensional data of both bikes so an informed judgement can be made on the ease or possibility of such a swap?

 

Have you thought about going with aftermarket wheels instead? It seems like it would be easier.

Or maybe contact an aftermarket wheel vendor to buy spacers etc that you need. They probably have sizes etc figured out.

 

I looked into it as much as i could through parts diagrams and numbers. The only sure fire way to know for sure is to measure the width of the hub and also the offset from center of the rotor and pulley mounts. Both generations use 25mm bearings, so the way they fit over the axle is good there... spacers and abs sensor are also 25mm.. this tells you that the usable space across the axle is 25mm for anything that matters between the 2... still looking good... 1st gen breakout, both wheels are offset to the right... I do not know if the new breakout is the same or centered on the bike (shouldn't matter, make new spacers to offset the wheels the same as the 1st gen... so, ok, still looking promising. One area of concern without taking physical measurements. The axle sleeve is a different part number... since we already know its 25mm... means the length has to be different... if the length is different... means the width of the hub is also different.... I do not know if the width is larger or smaller. If it is larger, this is the point you have to stop (or remove your abs) the abs IS a spacer on the 1st gen (you cannot change its size)... if the hub width is smaller... thumbs up, keep moving forward. lastly... would be the positioning of the rotors and pulley which you can only determine with measurement. Hope some of this helps... but it turned out to be too much effort for me to continue looking into it.

 

Who said I want easy. What I do want is the Turbine wheels on a new Breakout.

I can make spacers, that's no problem, done it loads of times. So if it's just a question of axle spacers, it really won't be hard to do. Disc alignment is trickier. Spacing the discs away from the wheel is easy, but if they need to be closer to the centre, that's much harder and requires machining the wheel or moving the caliper. None of it's impossible though. However, if the overall width is much too narrow for the wheel, then it could become impossible, depending on how much narrower. But I actually doubt that's the case.

A third party wheel supplier will soon know so a good idea to ask, but as I don't intend to buy any wheels from them, they may be disinclined to help.

 

Interesting, thanks. I didn't know previous Breakouts had offset wheels. But as you say, that can be adjusted with spacers. It's the other dimensions that become more critical. Good to know the axle diameters are the same. That's a start.

I'm hoping by the time I get my Breakout, someone will have already done it. It's always easier if you know beforehand what you need to achieve than having to work it out for yourself first hand. But if I have to, I will.

Or maybe H-D will make available Turbine wheels specifically for the '18-> Breakouts. What are the chances of that?

I guess I should start by looking at disc/pulley spacing from wheel centre and a rough measurement to get an idea of whether overall width is going to be a problem.

 

First step, could anyone with a new ('18) Breakout measure and let me know the fork width, i.e. the centre-to-centre distance between the fork legs. Or is this info available anywhere to read on-line?

 

You don’t have the bike yet, so maybe you are getting a bit ahead of yourself?

 

Well, if I want to order wheels at the same time as the bike, I kinda need to know if it's gonna work in advance. Nothing wrong with being prepared and what else can I do over the winter but plan next year's projects which don't only include the Breakout. So there's more to my need for information than just that.

So anyone know '18 Breakout fork width/spacing?

 

Here is a 2018 Breakout with Turbine Rims. It was done by a dealership in Australia named "Harley-Heaven" in Ringwood:

 

That alone drastically improves the look of this bike.