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Agree with your assessment…bike handles fine and the suspension is fine. I was actually surprised at how comfortable the Breakout rides and how well it handles given the 34 degree rake and 240 rear. I believe Harley has engineered the chassis to get the best out of it despite the constraints for styling.
Yes, I view the Breakout as a really impressive stylistic interpretation of a "dragbike". It's got all the right features that a dragbike typically has:
- Long and low (dragbikes do this to mitigate wheelying)
- LOW seat height (Dragbikes do this to lower the rider's center of mass, to miitgate wheelying). I really appreciate this on the street though, as it makes the 683 wet weight much easier for me to confidently keep the bike upright!
- Stretched out front end to achieve a long wheelbase (Again, a dragbike needs that to mitgate wheelyiing)
- Handlebar is pretty straight (Dragbikes do this to move the rider's body weight forward to fight wheelying). However, HD wisely raised the handlebar on this 2023 version, as the older version was too hard on a rider's back when used on a STREET (not drag) bike! But, hD disguised that upward movement by doing it via a high riser, not a handlebar bend
- VERY wide rear tire (a dragbike has this for strong traction during launch)
- VERY skinny front wheel and tire assembly (dragbikes use skinny, lighter weight front wheel assemblies to reduce moment of inertia). However, HD obviously did this for style versus function, as the 21" wheel diameter and even larger overall tire diameter ADD to moment of inertia. The front end STILL "looks" like a "drag skinny" because it is so NARROW compared to that 240 mm wide rear tire!
- Although dragbikes don't typically keep fenders on, the bobbed front and rear fenders are typical of performance motorcycles, because they reduce weight. However, with the rear fender, HD accentuated the loooong look by extending and sweeping it rearward horizontally, and adding that over-length taillight, to make the bike look longer, accentuating that dragbike vibe
You begin to understand just HOW low the bike LOOKS and IS, when you look at this photo of a Breakout right beside a Camaro:
The Camaro has a VERY low body profile, and only 3.5" of ground clearance, and yet the Breakout - even its MIRRORS - is lower.
HDs stylists hit the ball right out of the park with their design, and the HD engineers and ergonomics experts made the stylists' vision actually practical for the street. This model is pretty special.
Yes, I agree that it's a lot to do as far as upgrades and if I wasn't retired with the time on my hands I might not have attempted it. The front fork upgrade was a bit of a challenge trying to compress them when I was putting them back together. The pulley swap was straight forward to change, not much more than pulling the rear tire for a change.
I really like the new BO and if I ever get tired of my 14 BO I will definitely consider swapping it for a new model.
The closer I look at the 2023 Breakout specs, the more itneresting they become. Like the 214 version I had, the 2023 version mixes tire types: bias ply on the front and radial on the rear. More importantly, while the 2014 had a VERY heavy and "square edged" 240 wide Dunlop tire from the factory, the 2023 has a Micheling Scorcher 240 wide that has a rounder profile (so it does not resist turning into turns as much as the Dunlop) AND is MUCH lighter, at just 19 lb. That is only a bit heavier than the lightweight Pirelli Diablo 240 wide tire that I put on my 2014 to improve both the turning and acceleration (lower moment of inertia).
By the way, the specs for that 240 wide tire say it is 10.12" wide when inflated!
The front Michelin Scorcher on the 2023 weighs only about 13.5 lb, which is pretty light for a cruiser front tire.
The 2023 Breakout shows a lot of improved details in its specs.
Jim G
Last edited by JimGnitecki; Feb 3, 2024 at 09:12 PM.
Interestingly, HD calls it "red" versus orange. And, they offer a Sena/HD helmet in black with "red" trim that matches this trim color on the bike. the dealership's motorclothes manager, who held the helmet up beside the bike in the showroom says the helmet and bike colors are a match. Go figure.
Maybe a Harley color selector has a color vision issue?
Jim G
One of the first things I did to my Breakout was to remove the reflectors from the fork. But on your bike, they look in place.
One of the first things I did to my Breakout was to remove the reflectors from the fork. But on your bike, they look in place.
I used to remove reflectors off of my motorcycles. But then I talked to a car guy with a very special car that was black in color with black wheels. One night, in a restaurant parking lot, an older driver with impaired night vision backed his car right into the side of the car guy's mostly black car, doing serious damage. That severely reduced the value of the car guy's beloved car. Motorcycles are a LOT harder to see than cars, apaprently even in broad daylight. So, I stopped removing the reflectors.
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Feb 13, 2015, 01:41 PM
