Great looking BO!! When I lived in Maryland (I'm back in AZ now) I rode my Harley everyday possible until the roads were being salted so there were plenty of days when it was frosty on the ride to work, but thankfully I had heavy leather full chaps and heated jacket and gloves. I took the stock BO seat and had a local upholstery shop and had them work the seat to a much more comfortable riding position for me.

 

Santa brought me this today!

 

Happy New Year, I hope I didn’t kill this awesome thread!? lol

 

Hey guys, is the breakout frame longer than a standard softail? I get the rake is increased.. but it “looks” like the oil tank is stretched? I’m 6’4.5 and have a 38” inseam, would love to know

 

I don't think you did, but it would be nice to see more Breakout riders post here!! Maybe it will pick up since now that the Breakout is back in the HD lineup!

 

The dealer delivered my brand new 2023 Breakout 117 last Friday. I live in Province of Alberta in Canada (where we get REAL winters), and literally bought it right after a 14 inch snow storm and during a -39C = -38F deep dive cold spell! That combination of 14" of snow and -38F temperature got me a favorable price on both bike and accessories! But, it also required free dealer delivery by the dealership's enclosed trailer, and absolutely NO chance of even a short ride, as the entire street was snow and iCE covered!

Now, the temperature has shot up rapidly to +10C = 50F, so there is a 3 foot wide strip of melting, compacted snow and ice along the street curb where the snowplows piled the snow, and the street itself, plus all the surrounding roads, is totally WET and full of leftover sand that was applied during the snowstorm! There is SO much sand, especially at all the intersections where you need to make a 90 degree turn, that it almost looks like the roads are gravel, not paved! So, still cannot take a first ride, as it would coat the bike with dirty water, sand, and chemicals, and also dramatically increase the chances of wiping out on a sharp turn, even when being careful!

It is driving me nuts to have to wait . . .

Here is a photo of my Breakout as delivered:



Note that Canadian law does not permit the side-mounted license. Canadian Breakouts come with the center-mounted license plate. The center-mounted taillight's longggger than normal length adds to the bike's "low & stretched" look.

Jim G

 

Jim Wow and congratulations on the new breakout it looks sharp!! You’ll have time soon enough! It looks so nice!! Nice shop!! Just ride it in there! lol

 

I should be getting mine back from the dealership it was getting some upgrades and it’s 1k service.

 

Congratulations…I have the same bike. What kind of mods are you planning? What exhaust, tuner, etc.?

I am going to do very little to mine. I already added the Harley swingarm bag and smoked turn signal lenses up front. I would like to lower the rear 1 inch for looks. As far as performance, I am probably going to do a Power Vision, cams and pipes. Not sure yet on the pipes. I wanted VH Big Radius but they are only making them with cats. So I may just get some slipons without the cats. I need to talk with my mechanic and will call Fuelmoto for advice too.

 

I plan to do almost no changes beyond possibly replacing a few individual items that are not up to my appearance and/or quality preferences. This is my 2nd breakout, and its probably my 60th or so motorcycle during my lifetime (I have been riding for 56 years).

My first one was a 2014 with the metalflake silver tins, Turbine wheels, HD-installed Stage 4 kit. and an HD accesory handlebar that came back a bit further (I am only 5'7" in height, so the OEM bar was a bit too far forward for me). I was pretty happy with it when I lived in Texas. But when I moved back to Canada when I retired in 2016 (I am 73 years old now), I settled first on Vancouver ilsand. That was the wrong place for a cruiser. Its mountainous twisty and very narrow roads and low speed limits made it a place for an agile sportbike. I tried a Kawasaki ZX-14R, but it was too cumbersome. A 600cc Kawasaki ZX-6R with a 16,500 rev limit engine that produced 125 crank hp, that I modded down to a 395 lb, and regeared by 16% for instant throttle response, was the perfect bike for that environment.

But then we moved to the Canadian prairies, abiut 60 miles east of the Rocky Mountains, where the roads are flat, straight, and boring until you reach the actual mountains, and the longer distances to get there require a require a cruiser with a comfortable riding posture and resistance to the fierce winds we get here, not the 600cc missile with its tank-hugging posture and lightning reflexes!

I view this new Breakout 117 as being even better than my 2014 Breakout for this type of riding, given its better choice of rear tire PROFILE (the 1014 Dunlop tire resisted turning too much with its too-square profile), better OEM handlebar, better headlight, 25.5" seat height (I have a 29" inseam) and vastly superior engine torque and power (The 1014 BO needed the Stage 4 kit AND front and rear sprockets to have the usable torque I wanted). The stock torque curve on the 117 engine is exactly what I want. I haven't heard the OEM exhaust yet, but I do know that the D&D exhaust I had put on the 2014 turned out to be loud enough that no one I rode with wanted to be behind my bike, so I won't be doing THAT mod again. And I LOVE the highly visible but miniature instrumentation, that allows a rider to, if he chooses, see only the ROAD, versus the bike, while riding, giving him that "flying through the air" feeling that I love!

i'll see what changes I might contemplate after owning and riding the bike for a while, but at this point, I don't see the need for anything beyond rather minor appearance and quality mods, like some billet pieces. I don't know how the 240mm Michelin rear tire behaves in turning, but if it proves to be too resistant, I know from my experience with the 2014 BO that a Pirelli Diablo 240 with tis rounder profile and MUCH lighter weight and moment of inertia will solve that potential problem VERY nicely.

Of course, as I said above, I have not yet had the opportunity for even a short ride on the bike, so I need to reserve judgment until we've had a day with decently warm temperatures (10C = 52F or higher), dry ice-free roads that have had the intersections swept of the sand applied during the big snowstorm, and sunshine. Then, I'll know better what changes might be needed.

Jim G