Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout: Detailed Specs, Background, Performance, and More

Getting a bike and sticking with it for your whole life is really a bad idea. Even if you are a Harley rider, you are definitely not bound to stick to the same Sportster Super Low 1200T or any of the Harley Street series Well, have you ever experienced riding any motorcycle from the Harley Softail series ? If not, but you want to give it a hit, the Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout could be at the top of your list.

Big wheels, big paint, and a classic drag-bike attitude meet modern refinement. Furthermore, Harley-Davidson stuffs it brimful with raw power by putting the High Output Twin Cam 103 engine in it, waiting to send mountains of torque to that giant 240mm rear tire. The profile is low, muscular, and indisputably aggressive. On top of that, the drag bars help this defy gravity and everything else in its way.

Long, low, wide, and imposing, the Breakout Harley is a drag-strip-inspired thing of beauty. With its typical Harley-style looks and the gigantic tires and wide bars, would it handle like the escape vehicle it purports to be? Let’s find out here…

In this article, we will be discussing the detailed specifications, background, performance, and much more of the Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout.

With Breakout, the company wanted to really take the Softail family in a low, long, lean, pure direction and make it more muscular. So, the motorcycle enthusiasts got this long and low but also compact bike. The style of the bike is not really handcuffed by the old drag bike theme, so the Breakout Harley has got large wheels and tires at both ends. The designers have chopped everything that is extraneous off the motorcycle.

Instead of all the typical Harley designs, each motorcycle they have has an essence all its own. The same with the Breakout, every part has a purpose to it, and the purpose of making this bike was to provide the riders with a very tough, low, and pretty aggressive riding stance.

In 2013, the company came up with an addition to the Softail range of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, Harley-Davidson introduced another motorcycle with a historic edge in its design to give it a classic vintage appearance.

The Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout’s design was inspired by the custom "Gasser" look of the 1950s and 60s when setting up this sled. Then they packed it full of CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) inspired innovations to ensure that the performance was up to date. Back in the day, Gassers were customized drag bikes, and this bike harks back to its heritage while retaining the performance standards demanded by its customer base.

The Harley Breakout FXSB (2013–2017) consisted of a High Output Twin Cam 103B engine, which was a great motor at the time, but everyone agrees it’s been eclipsed in 2018 by the new Milwaukee-Eight 8-valve engine with its increased power, torque, and much smoother running.

Another 2013 Harley Breakout Softail was introduced under the title of FXSBSE CVO Breakout as a premium custom motorcycle possessing top-of-the-line features and detailing with a low, long, and slammed power profile. Propelling a capable Twin Cam 110B engine with 110 cubic inches of power, with a low cruising RPM for comfort and massive torque of performance.

In 2014 Harley Breakout FXSB, the ABS became standard, whereas, it was optional in the 2013 Harley Breakout model year. For the time being, Harley-Davidson has been making minor changes in the Breakout Softail models including the premium craftsmanship, premium finish with 3-D tank medallion, chopped fenders, and slammed console.

The recent evolutionary Harley Breakout has got much better features and specifications than the old FXSB and FXSBSE engines, but those who have a tough riding style are never going to skip this bike from their collection.

In the year 2018, Harley-Davidson launched a game-changing machine named Milwaukee-Eight. These engines were bigger, more powerful, and more rigid than the old Harley machines. H-D launched these M-8 engines in two variants: the 107 FXBR (standard) and the Breakout 114 FXBRS engines with the factory option, which is the undisputed heavyweight champion in the cruiser motorcycle category.

Along with upgrading the engine, the 2018 frame has half as many components and a quarter fewer welds and, with the solid-mount engine, makes for a one-third more rigid chassis that is 16 kg lighter. The revolutionary front fork design provides a more pleasant, well-controlled ride with improved handling.

Usually, it’s the engine and power that a motorcycle is all about. But, the Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout is all about tires. That’s what you think when you see it for the first time. Everything else on the bike becomes minimalistic in comparison to the big, bulky 240mm rear tire and the massive front tire.

Moreover, the tires are not only there to make the riders think of old drag bikes, but they serve a purpose instead. It's meant to give riders a tough, muscular, sort of slammed stance, and so it’s got really wide, beefy tires both front and back.

The bike overall has a minimalistic look. The height of the handlebar is really like a place everyone can reach easily. That complements the ergonomics of the Breakout Softail and makes it a suitable bike for long motorcycle rides and trips. So, if you are planning to attend a motorcycle rally like Sturgis or Daytona, the Softail Breakout could be your companion.

The Gasser-style wheels were also inspired by racing experiences from the mid-twentieth century. They called them "Gassers" because of the alternating spokes. To give the Breakout a more dynamic look, the company has highlighted half of the spokes from both sides, which looks like a five-spoke wheel but actually is a ten-spoke wheel.

H-D abandoned the twin shock design, with both shockers hidden beneath the engine, and instead used a simpler, more adaptable under-the-seat single coil-over unit. The mechanism is now more conventional in that the rear wheel compresses the shocker on a bump rather than stretching the pair as it normally did. This now offers added wheel travel, improved damping, and a wider range of spring preload adjustments while still retaining the signature clean rear lines of the original Softail.

If talking about the interesting facts about the Harley Breakout FXSB, it has a glossy look because gloss black has been used in most of its parts, which actually gave the designers a real headache. However, it makes the whole bike seem unified and tight.

In a nutshell, the Harley-Davidson FXSB Softail Breakout has an attractive look and design that makes it an all-time favorite for motorcycle enthusiasts.

The air-cooled, rigid-mounted, 1690 cc Twin Cam 103B counter-balanced engine with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), Automatic Compression Release (ACR), rated at 95.2 ft. lbs. peak torque at 3000 rpm 6-speed Cruise Drive® transmission, makes it run really fast. However, the estimated top speed of the Harley-Davidson Breakout Softail is 124 mph.

It depends on the rider’s priority. If you like a classic, vintage-style motorcycle with a Heritage V-Twin engine, Harley-Davidson could be your choice. Whereas, if you want a custom-style motorcycle and a vintage bike is not to your taste, you should buy the Honda Fury.

In the Harley world, the fine letters FX stand for the Softail family of bikes. Meaning the rear of the bike has suspension but looks like a hardtail (no suspension), because the shocks ate hidden underneath the bike, hidden from view. The S stands for standard, which means the motor is unpainted natural aluminum rather than painted black like the more loaded ultra-models, and there are usually a few other factory-installed non-upgraded accessories. The B simply specifies that the bike is a Breakout model.

Although the base model Breakout Harley has been discontinued, if you somehow manage to get one from some auction place or buy from your friend, you can still do flexing with it while riding around the street.

Therefore, Harley-Davidson motorcycles are always ready for add-ons. As a motorcycle enthusiast, you might be eager to make some changes to your motorcycle to satisfy your artistic soul. You can give your bike an aesthetic paint job with the graphics of your choice or you can fix an aftermarket handlebar of your shoulder height as per State’s Motorcycle laws and Licensing.

But there are some riders, who do not like too much stuffing of anything on their bike, they love to ride stock and classic. The least they do is to add premium-quality motorcycle saddlebags or sissy bar bags on their bike and rumble around the blocks with their heads raised.