Gas Alley Breakout

The right lines

Gasoline Alley’s head turning Breakout is more than a talking point.

As he was pushing it off the showroom floor, and out the door, Rob Keuning asked me, “You’ve ridden one of these 23” front wheel bikes before, Dave?”

“Yeah mate. Plenty, several of your builds in fact.”

“Yes, well, you know they ride a little differently, when you are cornering there’s more …”

“Resistance?” I suggested.

“Yeah, more … resistance.” He grinned.

A few minutes earlier we were sitting in his Dealer Principal’s office discussing the build.

Across the desk I began, “What was the goal with this build?”

“It’s the first Breakout I’ve ever owned, but I’ve always loved the look and the line of the bike, but we’ve built so many Breakouts that were all similar. I wanted to do something that stood out – without doing big, expensive engine modifications. We wanted to just work on the line of the machine. And the way it sat on the road and the cleanliness of the bike. Less is more.

The paint was also a consideration. We do so many black bikes, so we wanted to see something different. The job went to Mark Walker and he gave us exactly what we were looking for. It’s finished in a 2017 Night Rod Special pearl with custom graphics – and it looks great.

We fitted Slamtail suspension, and a Titanium Red Thunder Jesse James Signature pipe and we put a KPR fork cover kit on it. They are standard triple trees.

The name of the game was to make the bike look as clean as we possibly could. Hence all the internal wiring in the bars and hidden cabling. The bars are 14” Burleigh ‘Straight Up’ inch and three-quarter T bars.”

“The wheels?” I asked

“The back wheel is stock, painted black, and the front is a 23” Replica by Big Daddy Customs.

The Slamtail rear suspension gives it the line that we were looking for too. And the riding position is … insane. It’s all day comfortable – I love the riding position.

As for the motor, it’s a stage two. It has a 475 cam upgrade in it, that wakes it up and gives it that lumpy idle while the titanium pipe is different - which was also what we were looking for.

We spent a lot of money blacking the bike out. And spent a lot of time making it looking super clean. We didn’t want to build a crazy-expensive, big dollar show bike, it was about building a lean and mean street bike that you could ride every day.

It probably gets more attention than any other bike we’ve built – it’s a real conversation starter and the T-bars are the biggest polariser of all. 40% of the people that come into the shop don’t like the bars. 50% absolutely love them and 10% are totally undecided – which is also exactly what we wanted to do – to get people talking. We’ve already built replicas of this bike for customers. In fact, the last one we started was sold while it was still on the bench in the workshop.”

At which stage he handed me the key fob and stated pushing the bike towards the door.

On the road.

The first thing I noticed – and grinned to myself as I turned onto the service road outside the dealership, was ‘resistance’.

The combination of the big 23” front wheel and 18” rear, with a 260 section Metzler, required very similar energy and effort to turn as the last stock Harley I tested – a 2021 Fat Boy. And like that bike I found that it actually added something to the fun factor of riding it.

It needs more input from the rider, hang a knee out, move some weight off board and use exaggerated body English. The big wheel does afford a little more cornering clearance too.

When I got out onto the M1 Motorway the real joy of the bike became apparent. It’s rock solid on the road and the combination of the noise from the Red Thunder exhaust and the pull of the stage two engine made winding the throttle on and top gear roll on very rewarding. In fact, I found myself slowing down to 85kph occasionally, just so I could enjoy the experience of accelerating back up to the speed limit. The on-ramp was even better.

The ride is firm and solid and very planted of the road. It’s also supremely comfortable. Especially for the longer legged. And Rob was 100% right about the handlebars. They give a perfectly relaxed riding position with a slight lean into the wind so there’s no need for fairings or bodywork, even at Freeway Speeds.

When I got into the stop-start of the inner city traffic the bike was just as impressive. The motor remained very tractable and easy going at low speeds and low speed stability is good – with some allowance for ‘resistance’.

When I did park it up to photograph it, dropping the rear down with Slamtail was very easy – as was lifting it up again after shooting.

The great advantage of the adjustable hydraulic suspension is the bike remains ridable at its various heights and it’s very easy to adjust.

But the real stand-out through the lens was exactly what Rob had told me they were looking for – the great lines of the bike. It’s a fabulous looker. From the under-perch indicators to the Siktail tail tidy the line is just remarkably clean.

Grinning is winning

The smile on my dial as I pulled up back at Gas Alley told Rob all he needed to know.

I asked him, “How much is it to build a bike like this?”

“That depends on what the customer wants. To reproduce this one would cost around $65,000 all-up. But we also build bikes off or around it. This one has a $5000 exhaust system for example and a lot of inclusions that I was specifically looking for. But it’s all about the look and the line and we can custom design to suit.” He replied.

Take a line from HEAVY DUTY. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with Gasoline Alley H-D.

Cottie's Blue

Adam wanted a bike that stood out from the Breakout pack ... he got it.

“We call it ‘Big Papa,’” Bryan Farrow told me as we were walking into his workshop, about to shoot photos of the custom 2015 Breakout his crew had just finished rebuilding.

“It’s got big ‘everything’ and it’s the same colour as Papa Smurf” he grinned. “We’re pretty proud of it too.”

Which was actually how I came to be on the Sunshine Coast and their Nambour premises with my HEAVY DUTY hat on.

Images of the bike on their Facebook feed had piqued our interest. A few phone calls and a week later I’d already snapped a few static shots of this great looking machine when its owner, Adam Cottee arrived to help with the riding shot duties.

While fussing about with my cameras, I asked Adam to tell us about the bike.

“Mate, it’s been a long process. It’s something of a childhood dream of mine to have a bike that I could be really proud of. I’m a Harley enthusiast and I’ve had many Harleys, but to get one with the potential to be featured in a magazine is a goal I’ve had as long as I can remember.” He beamed. “And after years of hard work, to be in HEAVY DUTY is a pretty big thing for me.”

“The bike was brand new when I bought it. It had a few things done at the dealership, as you do, the standard Vance & Hines big radius pipes etcetera. I used to work at the local Harley dealer, and we used to refer to it as the ‘Breakout Special’. Pipes, Air Cleaner and a Tuner went out the door on virtually every one.

But this is actually the second build that Farrow’s have done on it. The first time we blacked everything out. But then I got sick of pulling at places and seeing so many blacked-out Breakouts we decided to strip it down again do something different that no-one else has done. And it really paid off.”

It’s running a 23” Front wheel with two-inch over forks and standard rake. The forks have been fitted with Custom Cycle engineering fork tubes and Progressive Springs. The stance of the bike had been further enhanced by a lowering kit fitted to the stock Softail rear suspension.

“I’m not a big fan of airbag suspension, I like to ride a bit harder than some of the air suspension’s capability.” Adam says with a smile.

We then talked about the powerplant.

The impressive S&S 124 Cube crate motor received extensive head work from Ollie Logan and a match ported HPI intake. The air cleaner is S&S with a Screamin’ Eagle Race Tuner that was tweaked by Wildcard Customs.

A unique Fab 28 exhaust system was fitted, as were a set of custom leads, so it’s currently putting out around 150 horsepower and “huge” torque.

“The crate motor was fully blacked out while it was stripped down too.” Adam noted with his focus on the bike’s aesthetic.

Also helping with the bike’s aesthetic are a set of 2”, fully internally wired Burleigh Bars with 14” rise that maintain its very clean line and look.

As does the fabulous McCully Customs 23” front wheel and Ross Wernimont Designs wrap around front guard. The oil tank is off a Rocker C, “Because it just looked right,” Adam says.

Looking just right is something that this build does all over.

Which brought us to how the bike rides. “Yeah, the bike rode beautifully before with the standard 21” rim, and I have to admit, at first I was concerned about how it would handle with the 23”, but the big wheel adds cornering clearance and allows me to lean into the corners a bit better and the way the bike sits on the road is perfect without compromising the ability to push it along without it wanting to wander.”

“It’s not black now, Adam.” I noted astutely.

He smiles, “The paint is a custom colour, we call it ‘Cottie Blue’ and it was done by Danny’s Paint shop locally. I just gave him a bit of this colour and a bit of that - and he came up with a great result. It’s a true one-off house colour. To be honest when it first came out, I was like … Oh no! … What have I done! But when it all went back together it turned out amazing.  I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

At which stage Bryan re-joined the conversation, “Yes, this bike is a real one of a kind. It’s got the only Fab 28 Exhaust made for a Softail anywhere in the world. Ralph our technician did a lot of great work on the bike. When he started on it, it was a frame, a swingarm and a gearbox.  So, we’re all really proud of the way it turned out.”

Adam continued, “Yeah – I have to thank Farrow’s Customs for the way it’s come together. Bryan and his crew are just the best. I wouldn’t take my bike anywhere else. His passion for the builds shows in his work. And I’d also like to thank my Partnern Jess and the kids for putting up with me an letting my dream come true with this build.”

“Any further plans for the bike?” I asked.

“Mechanically, no – it’s just the way I want it, but I do a lot of charity work for 42 for 42 Military awareness, so I’d like to take it to a few shows and see if we can raise some money and get their message out there. And basically, see where all that takes us.”

In that endeavour, HEAVY DUTY sincerely wishes Adam all the best. It’s a standout.

GUTS & BOLTS
GENERAL:
OWNER: Adam Cotton
MODEL: Breakout

ENGINE
TYPE: S&S 124 create motor stripped and painted black and extensive head work
CAM: S&;S 124 create motor
ESTIMATED POWER: 150HP
MAXIMUM REVS: 6500
AIR CLEANER: S&S
TUNER: SE Tuner (tuned by wildcard customs)
LEADS: custom leads
EXHAUST: Fab28
TRANSMISSION: STD
PRIMARY COVER: STD
MODIFICATIONS: Heads ported & flowed by Ollie with HP intake that is match ported

FRAME & SUPSENSION
TYPE: H-D
FRONT: custom cycle engineering fork tubes with progressive springs
REAR: STD with lowering kit
WHEELS & TYRES
F RIMM: 23INCH
R RIM: STD
TYRES: STD
F BRAKE:STD
R BRAKE:STD
CALIPERS:STD

CONTROLS
BARS: Burleigh bars completely internally wired in house.
GRIPS: PM
SEAT: Farrows custom seat by North Coast Custom Trim
LEVERS: STD
MASTER CYLINDER: STD
MIRRORS: H-D
GAUGES:
FORWARD CONTROLS:
PEGS:
KICKSTAND:
INDICATORS:
REAR TAIL:
GUARDS & FINISH
F GUARD: Ross Wernimont Designs wrap around guard
R GUARD: H-D
FUEL TANK: H-D
PAINTER: Danny’s paint shop / Stakd Automotive
ARTWORK:
PINSTRIPING:
PAINT: Custom blue blend


About the 42 for 42

The 42 for 42 is a veteran initiated community group for those affected by the war in Afghanistan.
42 for 42 is a non-profit organisation founded by Afghanistan combat veterans. The team at 42 for 42 are dedicated to supporting the families of fallen Afghanistan veterans as well as those who have returned from active duty in Afghanistan, and their families.

The main goal of 42 for 42 is constructing a war memorial specifically honouring Afghanistan combat veterans.  The memorial also honours returned veterans who lose the battle to suicide and mental illness at home. This memorial is being organised, supported, and built by Afghanistan veterans and their families who are all volunteers.

Many Australian veterans’ lives were lost during Australia’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan and lives are lost still when our veterans return home due to depression, post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues affecting our veterans.

42 for 42 raises money & awareness for those returned from Afghanistan and their families.

Find out more at their web site 42for42.org.au

The Duckworth Clan

A Family Affair

We’ve covered a number of Harley-owning father and son combinations over the years in HEAVY DUTY, but when Mark ‘Duckee’ Duckworth told me that all three of his sons were Harley enthusiasts and that he had even bought a Sportster for his wife, it was a feature story in the making.

Before we headed out for a series of photo shoots I sat down in his garage with Mark, Josh, Nathan and Blake to get the story on some of their machines.

“It’s a family affair, Mark.” I began, “Tell us about it?”

“We’re a very close-knit family, sports orientated and love spending time together.” he began. “Harleys are our latest passion - one that we have been into for six or seven years now. I first got into them and the boys followed. Josh is the oldest, Nathan the middle and Blake is the youngest.”

From there we started discussing the bikes.

Mark’s pride and joy is a stunning blue 2014 CVO Breakout. It was his first Harley and, “The one that you say that you are never going to sell, it will be handed down to my boys.”

The stock CVO arrived as a Stage 4 motor and he notes with a wry grin, “It was really quick to start with. But then I wanted to get things moving a bit quicker.”

The first of numerous improvements involved installing high compression pistons, then the heads were shaved and worked by Rams in Sydney, a 625-lift cam fitted, so was a 30-tooth pulley, a 58mm throttle body and Bassani turn-out pipes. “I really like sound of Bassani pipes, I think they are the best sounding pipes out of all of them.” He added.

But then, after riding it for a while he found it didn’t go quickly enough and he “got used” to the power. So the compression ratio was raised again, which did produce more horsepower, but developed less torque. It wasn’t as quick as a result so he opted for the 117 kit, had the heads reworked again to suit. It was all CC flowed tested and then sent it off to Fred at Dyno King.

Mark is enthusiastic. “He came up with the idea of running two computers and a quick-shifter. How it rides now, with that Quick Shifter is so lineal, the cam doesn’t seem as big as it is. Now I can upshift over 3000rpm flat out, and it’s like riding an automatic.”

The best time the bike had at the drags is 11.3 seconds. Mark noted that he is 110kg and rection time isn’t great. He’d like to get a “fast lightweight” on it to see what it can really do and maintains that under 11 seconds is entirely viable.

He says the best thing is, “The bike is super-reliable too.”

There are a few cosmetic changes. A two-inch tank lift “to get the lines just right.” The front forks have been extended two inches also to get the right look, it’s got adjustable hydraulic SAS rear suspension, and he made my own tidy tail. It’s also got KPI indicators all round.

Then he wanted to change the handlebars, “I didn’t want to go big high bars, so I copied my son’s drag bars on his V-rod. I headed down to Burleigh bars and told Zane what I wanted to do, which was run the hydraulic lines internally through the bars and they came up with a brilliant solution with a narrower custom-made set. It was unbelievably good service.”

He says, “I don’t think I could do much more to it performance-wise. The way it rides now with its strong, smooth lineal power is fantastic. Handling-wise, well, it still rides like a Breakout, but I’ve changed the rear tyre to the 260 for a more balloon look and am running a 120 on the front.

The next thing he plans to work on is the front suspension.

That Street Glide.

From there we stated talking about the beautiful White CVO Street Glide parked in the corner of the garage.

It’s a 2016 model with numerous modifications to make it, “Go and sound right”.

Mark bought it brand-new and was a decision that both he and wife Narelle made after test riding. He also bought a top box and had it painted to match. He says, “I rode if for a couple of months and decided that it wasn’t making the right sound, so we fitted Bassani headers and pipes, took it out to 117 cu.i, had the cams fitted and added some hi-compression pistons.

Joe Kovaks from KPI Industries worked with Mark to perfect the exhaust system and after doing a few rides following it I can attest that it sounds great.

In a familiar refrain, the ‘stock’ stage 4 CVO motor’s heads were reworked by RAMS and a 58mm Throttle body fitted. As was a 30-tooth pulley, “To make it rev a bit harder. Apart from the taller handlebars and mirrors that it. It’s all original CVO. I was just really attracted to this model.”

The Sportster 72

I pointed to another corner of the shed and asked, “So what about that lovely ’72?”

Mark grins, “Well, as you know, boys or men, we always want another Harley, so I bought that one for my wife for our 30th wedding anniversary. I wanted her to ride a sexy looking bike, so I bought it and had the bike delivered to her work with a big red balloon and ribbons. And she said … ‘What did you buy that for?’ It was just a special touch for our Anniversary, and that’s another bike I’ll never ever sell. I didn’t want to go to wild because it’s her bike.”

“B¬-u-u-uttt?” I smiled.

It’s been fitted with a “reasonable-sized” 595 cam, high compression pistons, the heads have been worked, Bassani system added plus a numerous chrome components. Mark maintains, “I do think it’s one of the best-looking bikes Harley have made with its old school look.”

On the Rocker

At which stage I turned to the oldest brother, Josh, and said, “That’s one of the best-looking Rocker Cs I’ve seen.”

It started life as an ‘08 Rocker C that he bought second hand. “I bought it about six years ago. It already had the Dragon forks on it, triple clamps and it had a different CVO prowler rear guard to the one that’s on it now.”

Josh has added the fibreglass seat with white upholstery, changed to spoked rims and gone to a 260 section rear tyre. A succession of front hoop sizes were trialled, a 19, a 21, before settling on the 26-inch front wheel it is running now.

Then he installed an Air Ride rear suspension system and says, “It now handles a lot better. Low speed is still a bit poor, but when you get rolling it handles great.”

It’s also got a V&H big radius exhaust, new bars by Burleigh Bars were fitted and braided lines added. All the other tins have been painted up as close to stock colours as possible and under perch indicators installed. The ignition switch has also been cleverly modified, “So I can take the key out while riding.”

When asked what future plans he has for the bike, he too grinned, “I’ve got two turbos sitting in the garage waiting to go on, but with 2020 being what it has been, it’s all on the backburner for now.”

Night Rod Special.

Nathan bought the bike brand-new in 2016 and it was the last white one for sale in Australia.

It’s had stage 2 cams fitted with larger throttle bodies and fuel injectors installed, a K&N Hi flow filter, a Power Commander also fitted and the Akrapovic exhaust system has been finished with Cerakote.  A Quick Shifter, 28-tooth front Sprocket, flush mount indicators, Tail tidy, Air ride suspension, Burleigh drag bars and custom painted wheels finish off the build.

The finish on the wheels is called ‘Mutant Crystal’. Nathans says, “The problem with white bike and wheels is that the dirt and disc dust accumulate in the centres and it’s really hard to get your hands in to clean them, so we made that part black and then it transitions out to white.

It’s a really interesting look.

When asked if there were any further plans for the bike Nathan said, “Either supercharge it or … move it on.

He describes riding it as “Pretty fast. It will pull eleven second flat quarters at the drags, and it’s very consistent. It will wheel stand on power, or if you slip the clutch it will light it up in first second and third.  But basically, I’ve tried to keep it simple.” He concluded.

Which the brought us to Blake’s machine.

“Yeah - I love getting out with the family on weekends or whenever I’ve got some spare time. Giving a bit of throttle ¬- it’s great fun.” He said with gusto.

“A lot of people might recognise my bike, it was built by Glen Taylor at Morgan & Wacker - and it won the ‘People’s Choice’ prize in the H-D Kings of Custom competition.”

It started life as a Softail Slim and was given the full dealer custom treatment to make it look like it does now.

It’s actually hard to recognise what it is ¬- or stated as. It has two-inch over forks, a twentyone-inch front wheel that is also an inch wider than stock, so it gives a much more balloon-like profile.  It has been fitted with a V&H Grenade exhaust system, has a custom white seat, white handgrips, CVO Mirrors, a tail tidy with bullet blinkers both front and rear, custom paint and a V-rod headlight.
The bars are off a Heritage Softail, and Blake says, “They are nice and comfortable.” It also had mid controls originally, but they were changed the to “forwards, to get that Harley feel.”

The motor is stock M8, “Which in this bike goes pretty hard. But overall it’s just a nice bike to ride.”

The Projects

The clan also has two other project bikes on the go. Under construction in the back room is an 883 Sportster with a Turbocharger hanging off it and Fat Boy wheels that is going to be pretty special and quite unique when done.

 There’s also a beautifully painted Craftech frame that “we’re going to run a 26” twin-disc spoked wheel on the front and are still deciding what motor we’ll use.” Says Mark. “Maybe a 131 crate motor.”
 We’ll be keeping an eye on that one too.

It’s all in the family.

Big Wheel Breakout

 

Breakout Buy-in

Doug’s big-wheeler was an offer too good to refuse.

Those of us of a ‘certain age’ may recall a famous advertising campaign where a wealthy bloke named Victor loved his electric razor so much that he bought the company that made it?

Doug Every is a member of the Parts and Accessory team at Gasoline Alley H-D and the story of his beautiful Breakout reminded me of that commercial.

After a photo shoot I sat down with Doug in the spares office at Gas Alley and asked for the breakdown on his 2016 FXSB Breakout.

“I didn’t plan on buying it. I was building it for a Biker Build-off, ordering all the parts and saying to myself, ‘don’t buy it, don’t buy it’ over and over, because I already had an Evo Softail at home, one that I’d spent waaaay too much money on, but then the parts started to arrive and I thought … ‘Yeah, I’m buying it.’” He grins.

“The first show I put it in was judged by Corey Ness. It took third place overall and it wasn’t even finished! I was pretty proud of that and Corey agreed. All it had then was the 23” Front Wheel set and Hawg Halter Triple trees.

Not long after that I had it painted, got the gold fork tubes from Topline tubes, had the seat re-done by Nerang Motor Trimmers, and then just basically rode it for the next ten to twelve thousand kays with a stage one kit fitted.

The pipes were interesting, they are prototype Reinhearts and Judd Reinheart came over to fit them personally - just to check the prototyping. It also had the RSD Power Air filter and a Screamin’ Eagle race tuner installed. I also added a Chop-C tail tidy.

At around 12,000kms it went back into the shop and the engine was upgraded with a 110 Tyre-Shredder kit. The kit includes 110Cu.i Barrels, 10.5:1 high-comp pistons, CNC Port and polished heads, 58mm throttle body, 5.7gm injectors, 259 cams … the full kit, as it comes from Harley. I had that put in.

It’s part of being a Harley spare parts guy. I wanted to be able to bolt that kit straight in. All genuine - complete. And to be able to say to people ‘this is what this does’”.

“From there I put on the under-perch indicators and it had Legend air ride suspension, but that’s out for repair at the moment (I left the switch on and damaged the compressor – my bad), so it’s running the stock shock temporarily - and it has a chain drive conversion.

“I put the chain on because after I got the Tyre Shredder kit, well … I maybe started dropping the clutch a little more than I should,” that was accompanied by another broad grin. “So, I started tearing some belts. 10 teeth here, 12 teeth there, so I thought ‘I’m just going to keep doing this’ so I put on the chain. Naturally it had to be a gold chain to go with everything else. The kit came from Rollies. I got 27,000km out of the first chain and it didn’t really need changing, but the rear sprocket did. The Performance machine front calliper was the 3rd Place Prize back at that first show. And that’s about it.”

As I was framing it up at various angles and locations during the photo shoot I understood why it’s a prize winner. It’s a great looking Harley.

“And it’s just a good bike too. I ride it to Tassie, touring, anywhere, and it’s my daily ride - to and from work unless it’s too miserable, but it rides really nicely. It’s the importance of getting the big wheel geometry right and they enhance the ride of the bike. This thing handles well, and the big wheel gives it better clearance and stability.

With standard length for tubes, the six degrees of extra rake that the Hawg Halter Triple trees give it … they are just the right amounts of rake and trail to work really well with the 26-inch wheel. We didn’t go for longer tubes because that tends to make the bike feel top heavy. But this setup tips in beautifully.

Ride-ability has always been one of the keys to this build. We tried a few things that didn’t work out too. We fitted a 260 rear and went straight back to the 240. It rides much better with the 240.

In the end we think it’s got to be a compromise of the way the bikes rides and the look.”

“So it rides like a normal Breakout?” I asked.

His answer was succinct, “No. It rides much better than a normal Breakout. It’s got better clearance, better turning … I could ride this under a standard Breakout. It was even better with the Legend Air Ride suspension because I could get it to full ride height. I’ll get it fixed shortly.”

When asked about any other plans for the bike, Doug sounded a little undecided, “Well … I’m sort-of tossing up now … we’re building a Meatball Springer out the back and we’ve got one of them in stock. Then when I took the fender off to paint it … and then … I was thinking that if I run it with no fender it would need a springer … and then I thought that I could paint it black and have a gold front fork and run the chrome springs on it and that would look really good …” and he tailed off. “But, for now, I just enjoy riding it.”

We understand that part too.

If you’d like to find out more about big wheel conversions or any custom builds contact Doug at Gasoline Alley H-D.  www.gasolinealley.com.au

140hp Custom H-D Breakout

As several Heavy Duty bike tests have begun previously, this one kicked off with a call from John Newstead at M&W that went something like, “Dave, we’ve just built a bike that you need to ride. It’s a Breakout and it’s rather special, come and take it for a spin.”

A few days later I was taking some photos of John riding it and then got to borrow it for the weekend. And some weekend it turned out to be! The short story is that this 2019 Breakout produces 142.65 horsepower, 145.68ft.lbs of torque and one huge adrenalin rush when you crank the throttle. It goes from ‘go’ to ‘whaoaaaaaaa!’ in a heartbeat. Instant, linear, shredding, surging, addictive grunt. And because the big power is delivered from a large capacity V-Twin it has that characteristic lowdown torque surge that is missing from a similarly powerful multi-cylinder engine.

It’s unique – and it’s producing numbers in excess of what we’ve seen from some boosted Twin Cams – with turbos or superchargers and even surpasses some of the really Big Block motors.

It’s a normally-aspirated muscle cruiser that truly deserves the massive 240 section rear tyre in the name of ‘getting all that power to the ground’. The fact that it’s all slung in the new M8 Breakout chassis, with its inherent tidy handling, great comfort, sweet brakes and good looks adds even more to the bike’s appeal. I sat down with the Dealer Principle, Paul Lewis, to get the details.

“Really Dave, the great news is the breathing capacity of the Milwaukee 8 engine and the 4-valve head. We found the Twin Cams good, but you really had to spend a lot of money to get them to this level of performance. With the single cam it’s a much simpler modification to install a high-lift profile and get those ‘four big holes’ in the heads sucking in and exhaling a lot of air.” Paul began. “We’ve found that small modifications to these engines can have a huge impact of their output.

We’re getting more power out of the 117-cube than some of the very large capacity older-style engines.” “The Milwaukee 8 means we can get a variety of different lifts via the camshaft, combine that with the right induction and the right exhaust, and the new motor is capable of producing really big numbers. At the end of the day that’s all it is though a number for calibration and while we understand that some people like to use their Dyno numbers for ‘bar races’ at the pub, we like to say that some Dynos are calibrated in Draught Horses and some Dynos measure Shetland Ponies. Our new Dyno is calibrated for accuracy – and the important thing is tuning to make sure the bike is still rideable – while delivering big horsepower.

Our specialists, Luke Spence, Glen Riley and the team have made sure that this Breakout certainly is that.” “And that’s what we built this bike for – it’s a Performance Demonstrator, to show exactly what we can do with the Milwaukee 8 engine. We started with a 114-cube Breakout and tried to use as many genuine Harley components as possible. We used a specific mix of cam and injectors with cylinder heads machined to our specifications by Rams Headworks in Sydney. That included oversized valves and a full port and polish. But really, the performance parts inventory on the bike is quite thorough and extensive.” At which stage Paul handed me the two-page list of components used and the worksheet to complete the project. Here’s what you need to extract over 140 horsepower and nearly 200Nm from a Milwaukee 8 engine… Start with 4.075 big bore cylinders and 4½in stroke high compression pistons, then add Feuling lifters, Screamin’ Eagle adjustable pushrods and a S&S 550 camshaft.

A TTS Mastertune Delphi EFIUF tuner, “Which allowed us to unlock a few more horses from the engine’s ECU,” was also included. Then add a Screamin’ Eagle Tuneable Air Intake kit with Extreme Air Ventilator, a High Flow 5.5gal/ sec Fuel Injector kit and SE Performance spark plugs. Originally the bike was fitted with Vance & Hines Big Radius exhausts, but they were replaced with a V&H upswept stainless steel system that yielded an extra 17 horses. Then some cosmetic touches were added: The Medallion Airbox insert and a CVR Chrome Kit, 117 Timer Cover and then there’s all the gaskets, clamps and hardware need to complete the physical build.

From there the bike went to Glen and the Morgan & Wacker dyno room. “It needed a thorough run to suit its new configuration. It was on the dyno for three hours and was meticulously fine-tuned to achieve its current figures,” he said. Which all leads back to me sitting on the bike near the Freeway On-Ramp, waiting for a clear go, and ‘just one more’ highly addictive 0-100kph fun-run. The only problem is that they only last a few seconds. But there’s always another one.

Then, when you are out on the freeway, top gear roll-on is quite joyous and the growl of 140 untamed horses under you is pretty special. There are some trade-offs in having such a wild and fast ride.

In normal conditions and traffic it needs two, or maybe three gears lower than normal to stop the lumpy cam-equipped motor from hunting. It needs revs. It’s also loud! The V&H system is very loud, while the bike’s fuel consumption is up and the tank’s range has been reduced markedly – but all that is as you would expect from a Harley cruiser that will give the sports bikes a real surprise off the line. How Much? If you have a motorcycle with a 114-cube Milwaukee 8 engine a similarly-full inventory of parts, labour and dyno tuning comes with a turn-key price of $10,109. For that, Morgan & Wacker have built a FXBRS that is fast, furious and huge fun. At the time of writing the bike is still for sale at their Newstead Showrooms and because it was built as a demo bike it does offer some savings.

This bike plus build cost is around $43,000 in total but it’s on the floor at $39,999. Contact Morgan & Wacker for details, or better still see if you can wrangle a test ride. But hang on!

H-D Breakout Test

Is Harley’s New Muscle Cruiser Set to win the Sales Race - again?

After topping the sales charts as the biggest selling motorcycle of 2016 the hugely poplar Softail Breakout fell away slightly to finish in third in 2017.

Last year the Postie Bike topped the charts, while Harley’s LAMS special, the Street 500 took second and the 103 Cube Breakout was third.

That’s still an achievement for the Breakout considering that the FXSB cost around $20,000 more than the bikes in the positions around it.

The question is whether the significant improvements Harley have made to the 2018 model will arrest that 24% decrease in sales?

After spending several weeks and a lot of kilometres aboard the latest 114 cube incarnation I reckon that if merit alone was the criteria it should clearly romp past the post because the M8 equipped, 2018 unit is a completely different animal.

HANDLE IT

First and most importantly Harley have ‘fixed’ the Breakout’s handling.

The older incarnations were, let’s say “inconsistent” in the way they cornered – mainly due to the offset front end that required differing amounts of energy to turn either left or right. That was OK when you got the mojo of it, but at first it lead to several ‘WTF’ moments.

Of course it was fixable with some front-end re-alignment and a few spacer adjustments, but all that is just a memory now.

The 2018 model is actually a sweet handling, reliable cornering machine. Very far removed from any inconsistencies.

In fact I thought it was the sweetest handling of any of the 240 section rear ends I’ve tested. No doubt helped by the USD forks in the new and much improved Softail Chassis.

It still has Softail lean angles and the heels of my boots took a serious grinding as they sat on the forward controls but I really enjoyed throwing this bike around.

Not something I would have said for any of the previous models.

The front end is very tidy although there isn’t a huge amount of suspension travel and with that wide rear it is quite a firm ride and you do feel the bumps, but it didn’t bottom out at all during the test and the way it handles makes up for the sportiness of the suspenders.
Also contributing to the riding enjoyment are very comfortable ergos. The flat drag bars on slightly pulled back risers, very comfortable gel seat and forward pegs all made for a riding position that I found to be ‘all-day’ good.

I did several 350km plus day rides from Brisbane down to the NSW North Coast and was still good to go further by the time I got back to base. For a cruiser style bike it toured remarkable well too.

THAT FUEL TANK

What’s that? “Touring? Not with that tiny fuel tank Dave!” I hear you say.

Well, its range is actually OK. On those day rides with a mix of city, country and freeway I was getting 240km before the fuel warning light came on. The range on the trip computer still showed 80km at that point – so around 300km to the tankful should be viable. And yes, that’s not brilliant for a tourer, but it’s perfectly acceptable for what is a capable muscle cruiser that does a bit of everything.

WHICH MUSCLE?

A Muscle Cruiser it most certainly is. The 114 power plant is strong, ‘torquey’ and the 240 section rear is the ideal way to get it all to the ground. The cars disappear in the rear view mirrors at a very satisfying rate when launching it from the traffic lights. It’s got some serious grunt.

This one also shook a lot more than the previous 114 and 107 Milwaukee 8 engines I’ve ridden. It developed more vibes across the rev range. That may be because the test bike showed signs of copping a bit of a thrashing before we got our mitts on it. The brakes were glazed and the pipes had been dragged on the deck pretty hard, but it also helped me develop a theory about what engine I’d choose: 114 or 107 cube.

If I was looking to keep the bike reasonably standard – Stage one or Stage two builds – I’d go for the 107 cube. There isn’t a whole lot of difference in the way the two motors ride or feel in stock form. The 107s seem slightly sweeter, taps out a bit better and doesn’t vibrate as much as the 114 (In stock form).

If I was going to really chase performance and go to Stage Three or Stage Four – then the 114cube is the way to go. It’s already got the big barrels so you don’t have to buy them again.

Either way, it’s a great motor in the new chassis.

STOP IT.

The four piston callipers and fixed rotor front brakes and two piston floating rear pulled the 305kg (in running order) Breakout up on a dime. I couldn’t fault them. Out back of Murwillumbah the speed limit signs say, “Drive to the Conditions”. They were perfect. We did.

Through some of those glorious twisty valley roads the brakes got a serious workout and showed no sign of fading or overheating. The bike just nailed it.

WELL NAILED

Actually, the bike nailed most of what I threw at it. It proved very comfortable in both City and Country environments. It’s narrow enough to lane split with ease and has plenty of show bike cruiser appeal. It goes and handles well enough to be very enjoyable in more sporty open road conditions and it’s comfortable enough to sit for a few hours on the freeway without killing your arse.

There are plenty of other things to like about the Breakout too. I thought the LCD instrument display set into the handlebars was really cool and the rest of the creature comforts are what you would expect from a $34,000 bike.

The Gasser II cast Aluminium wheels look great and the overall line of the bike is very attractive. It’s got some great angles. The test bike is finished in ‘Black Tempest’ and that worked better with the black heat shields on the mufflers than some of the other colours do.

I’d add one of the aftermarket tail tidy kits if it was mine and maybe it’s been because of all the ‘controversy’ about the headlight on the Fat Boy that there hasn’t been much social media discussion of the Breakout’s light, but it’s the one style point I didn’t like that much.

It works really well, with a brilliant, wide flat beam, and looks great front-on, but the surrounds and finish are, well … plastic.

But that’s just a tiny gripe on a bike that I thought has been well and truly sorted and due for another podium finish in the important motorcycle Sales race.


ENGINE
ENGINE: Milwaukee-Eight® 114
BORE: 102 mm
STROKE: 114.3 mm
DISPLACEMENT: 1,868 cc
COMPRESSION RATIO: 10.5:1
FUEL SYSTEM: Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI)
EXHAUST: 2-into-2 staggered; catalyst in muffler

DIMENSIONS
LENGTH: 2,370 mm
SEAT HEIGHT, UNLADEN: 665 mm
GROUND CLEARANCE: 115 mm
RAKE : (STEERING HEAD) (DEG) 34
TRAIL: 145 mm
WHEELBASE: 1,695 mm
TYRES, FRONT:130/60B21,63H,BW
TYRES, REAR:240/40R18,79V,BW
FUEL CAPACITY: 13.2 l
OIL CAPACITY: 4.7 l
WEIGHT, AS SHIPPED: 294 kg
WEIGHT, IN RUNNING ORDER: 305 kg

PERFORMANCE
ENGINE TORQUE TESTING METHOD J1349
ENGINE TORQUE 3 155 Nm
ENGINE TORQUE (RPM) 3,000
LEAN ANGLE, RIGHT (DEG.) 26.8
LEAN ANGLE, LEFT (DEG.) 26.8

DRIVETRAIN
PRIMARY DRIVE Chain, 34/46 ratio
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 1ST 9.311
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 2ND 6.454
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 3RD 4.793
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 4TH 3.882
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 5TH 3.307
GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) 6TH 2.79

CHASSIS
WHEELS, FRONT TYPE Gloss black, Gasser II cast aluminium
WHEELS, REAR TYPE 7 Gloss black, Gasser II cast aluminium
BRAKES, CALIPER TYPE 4-piston fixed front and 2-piston floating rear

GAUGES
 2.14 inch viewable area LCD display with speedometer, gear, odometer, fuel level, clock, trip, range and tachometer indication

Breakout at Chillingham

The original plan for Sunday was to meet up with the crew at Yatala and head out west to Maryvale and the Darling Downs, but the forecast temps were up to 38c so we shelved that idea and headed down the coast instead.
Spook said we were soft.
I said no “We are smart.”
As it turned out I had one of those day rides you could frame - it was ‘that’ good.
Outstanding from the point that I fully got to grips with the 114cube Breakout test bike, and partly due to the lush summer-green landscapes and awesome twisty roads we travelled by.
I left East Brisbane base before 8am and 40 minutes of Freeway later met up with Rowey and Tappy at Coomera.

We continued on immediately a further 20 minutes down the M1 and hooked up with Roberto, Spook, Blackie, and Hughesie at Reedy Creek.
After a quick gasbag we mounted up and headed out through Currumbin and up and over Tomewin Mountain Road.
There were dozens and dozens of bikes on the Mountain – a passing parade going in both directions - really good fun - and although it’s 60kph speed limited it doesn’t matter too much because there are tons of 30kph speed signed corners in pretty quick succession.
We continued on through Murwillumbah, across the great set of sweepers to Burringbar and had a refreshment stop at the Mooball pub - a bit after 10am.
3 of the lads headed homewards while Blackie took the lead and Spook, me and Hughesie headed back over Burringbar, then turned left to Stokers Siding and on to the Tyalgum Road through the Oxley River Valley.
It’s one of those roads where the speed limit is posted as ‘Drive to the Conditions’ - so we did - pretty hard - because said conditions were absolutely perfect.
The Breakout hammered all the way. The 240 section rear fitted in the new Softail chassis makes it the most normal handling fat-arse bike I’ve ridden. I still tended to counter-steer it slightly more than a normal 180 section like the Sport Glide I’d ridden 48 hours earlier, but even so, it handles amazingly well for such a big chunk of rear rubber. To say it’s ‘normal’ is high praise.
I had also come to grips with the fact that the 114 vibrates more than the 107 cube variants I’ve been on recently.

By the time we got to a drinks break at Chillingham Store around lunchtime I was completely in my happy place on the Breakout and very, very happy with the way it performed, handled and braked. The way it launches is a thing of beauty.
I also have some hard data regarding the most common question I’ve fielded about the bike so far. I fuelled up at Reedy Creek and got almost all the way home before the fuel warning light came on – at 250km – and the range computer was still showing 80kms left. 280km would be safe – 300km doable.
Considering this was a pretty green motor (3,800km) and after a lot of 110kph(ish) Freeway, plenty of hard country road riding, lugging a large payload (me) - I think that’s quite acceptable for a cruiser style motorcycle.
From Chillingham we headed back over Tomewin again (it’s good enough to do twice). We then made our way back to the M1 at West Burleigh and went our separate ways.
I cruised back up the M1 in very good comfort and was good to go even further by the time I got home mid afternoon and 340km later. The saddle was still as comfortable as when I set out and the forward controls and drag bars made for a riding position that works really well for a big and tall rider like me.
I still reckon it was a smart move. It was a great day and gave some good insights for the full Breakout test article coming up in issue 158 of Heavy Duty Magazine.

2018 Harley Breakout On-Board

Again, with huge thanks to the team at Morgan & Wacker Brisbane I had a good run on a 2018 Softail today.
The monsoon finally broke (it’s been hosing down up here), so I picked up the ‘Silver Fortune’ beauty mid-morning and headed west through the city and up to Mt Coot-tha, on to Mt Nebo, back through the West End and finished with a blat down the freeway.
It gave a mix of inner city, urban cruising, sports riding and Freeway conditions. First impression was that the bike was outstanding through all of it.
“Dave, you’ll love it”, was Brum’s prediction when I rang to tell him what was afoot – and he was 100.
At a touch over $30k the Breakout was already Australia’s top selling motorcycle. The 2018 upgrade should see it retain that position. It’s a big upgrade.
Every previous Breakout I’d ridden was typical of a motorcycle with a 240 section rear. I just called its manners an ‘idiosyncrasy’ of that type of machine and rode around the effort needed to pull it through a corner. You could fix ‘em so they tell me and I know that later model V-Rods had it well sorted.
So too now does the Breakout. Gone is the low speed wrestle and the way the rear wanted to follow the contours in the tarmac. (well, mostly.)
It still has a fat arse and generally needs more body English than a 160 rear on a Softail Slim for example, and it’s too long ago since I tested the V-rod to hang my hat on a direct comparison, but I think handling-wise it’s now within that same ball park.
As John Newstead from M&W pointed to the tyres and astutely said, “You don’t see chicken strips like that on a Breakout normally.” True that.
The 114cube motor is stronger, torque-ier, and pulls harder than the 107 (like duh! Dave). It also gives off slightly more vibration, but only slightly, it’s still minor.
The brakes are excellent, the suspension is more supple, the saddle is very comfy, the gearbox and clutch I couldn’t fault, the new instruments are small, understated and efficient.
The whole package just … worked. I found it a very, very pleasant machine.