Many years ago, Mortein had the advertising slogan, ‘If you’re on a good thing, stick to it’. It’s a tagline that could also be applied to Harley-Davidson with their Softail-based ‘Breakout’. The power cruiser that set the world alight upon its launch - and became a favourite here in Australia – has been improved for its latest iteration. Harley have stuck with their “good thing,” but they’ve also made it better and more usable in key areas.
In addition to marking the 120th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson, 2023 also marks a decade of production for the Breakout. Launched by The Motor Company in 2012 as a 2013 model, the Breakout was initially only available in the CVO family before joining the standard Cruiser range, reversing the trend of previous CVO models.
Based on the Softail platform from the outset, the Breakout is essentially Harley’s factory chopper, with its long, low and raked out stance accentuated by low, flat bars, compact mirrors and a distinctive big-and-little front and rear wheel combination.
Initially, the Breakout was fitted with the 1,801cc Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110B v-twin for the CVO version, while the standard model got the smaller 1,690cc Twin Cam 103. A 2017 Pro Street Breakout CVO would be the last to be offered in that premium family, with the Breakout part of the conventional Softail lineup since.
When the eight-valve ‘Milwaukee-Eight’ engines were introduced for the 2017 model year, the Breakout was offered with both versions: the 1,746cc Milwaukee-Eight 107; and the 1,868cc ‘Twin-Cooled’ Milwaukee-Eight 114 with air-oil cooling. Unsurprisingly, the latter became the more popular, despite its increased price tag, leading to the 107 version being dropped from the Australian range after 2019.
