{"id":585549,"date":"2018-03-01T14:16:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T04:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/?p=585549"},"modified":"2018-03-06T15:39:24","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T05:39:24","slug":"2018-harley-davidson-breakout-114-review-thunder-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/2018-harley-davidson-breakout-114-review-thunder-on\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 HARLEY-DAVIDSON BREAKOUT 114 REVIEW \u2013 THUNDER ON"},"content":{"rendered":"

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IMAGES BY <\/strong>NICK EDARDS\/HALF LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

How\u2019s the chorus of that old fiddle classic The Devil Went Down To Georgia<\/em> go again?<\/p>\n

Fire on the Mountain, run, boys, run<\/em><\/strong>
\n The Devil\u00b4s in the House of the Rising Sun<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s it. I figure if ol\u2019 Lucifer was heading down to Georgia to visit a legendary knockshop, he\u2019d be riding this Breakout.<\/p>\n

Not any other Breakout. This one right here.<\/p>\n

The 2018 model with the fire-starting 114-cubic-inch engine, the rich sin-dark paint, the impossibly fat-beaut rear hoop, and an evil new headlight that works as purposefully as it looks.<\/p>\n

This Breakout is, as far as I am concerned, everything a Harley-Davidson needs to be, has not been, and now is.<\/p>\n

\"\"

I am wearing a Rossi T-shirt to avoid the attention of Task Force Raptor.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

It handles very well in relative terms. That sexy fat hoop needs to be coaxed to tip in, but once you\u2019re leaned over Harley\u2019s all-new suspension makes sure you stay on the line you picked. Older Harley fans will know that was never the case before. Bumps are now properly dealt with rather than terrors to be avoided.<\/p>\n

It goes\u2026oh my shiny cloven hooves, it SO goes. The 114-cubic-inch (1870cc) engine shovels torque at you like a backhoe digging drainage channels in a flood. It\u2019s a shade tardier than the 107-cuber to punch you in spine (I addressed this in my Fat Boy review HERE<\/a>), but it more than makes up for it in the way it cruises at 140-plus\u2026and indeed in the way it surges past the old ton.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s smooth, it\u2019s responsive and it\u2019s fuelled so damn well you\u2019d think there were actual cables and carbies on it.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Four plugs, lots of cubes, all now being coaxed on by 2018 technology. The difference from last year’s models is huge.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Where the Hell was this Breakout when I was trying to evade the police back in the day? Talk about making me work for it\u2026<\/p>\n

Now where was I? Oh yes. I was telling you how the 2018 Breakout is now everything a Harley needs to be.<\/p>\n

So it bangs and it\u2019s suspension works.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that was enough, huh?<\/p>\n

No. There\u2019s more.<\/p>\n

The gearbox is slick and sure. Gone is the door-slamming bang that informed your entry into first gear. From first to sixth, the progression is more positive than a Nimbin Yoga class.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Namaste to you all.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

The whole package is, from an engineering standpoint, a massive step forward for Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

But as far as the Breakout is concerned, there\u2019s more to it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tone to this bike. A feel\u2026a vibe, if you will.<\/p>\n

It pushes my old outlaw buttons like no other Harley has since the glorious bad old days.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a combination of stance \u2013 long, low and mechanically mean. No other bike twitches up my bad-man ganglions quite like this one in terms of aesthetics. That mad-fat rear tyre only helps me walk further down that dark road.<\/p>\n

\"\"

I love that headlight. It works. It looks mean. I can ask for nothing more.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Dial-up your preload. Mine was set to “Hefty”<\/strong>.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re maybe looking for something to replace your ageing VROD that is possessed of at least as much sass, then I think the Breakout is right there.<\/p>\n

The riding position is reminiscent of the VROD, and has the same long-distance, long-hours issues, ie. You\u2019re going to know you\u2019ve been for a long ride.<\/p>\n

The Breakout is certainly more ergonomically comfortable that the VROD, but you are locked into a feet-and-arms forward position and the meat on your arse is your secondary shock absorber. Happily, Harley\u2019s 2018 suspension is so much better than what went before, this isn\u2019t as onerous as it sounds. You can certainly do the miles on the Breakout, but you will feel yourself wishing there were more Houses of the Rising Sun dotted along your way.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The seat is a masterpiece of upholstery. It’s gorgeous and very up-market. Choose a small, fit pillion. Trust me on this.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

I found the ground clearance adequate, and I was able to push on quite a bit harder than people imagine. Especially people who have never ridden one of these 2018 Harleys.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a fan of the stock tyres, especially in the wet, and they would be the first things to go if I bought a Breakout. That tread-pattern might be as aggressive as a nightclub bouncer, but toss some water at it and it just goes inside and sits down. This is no biggie. I\u2019m just letting you know in case you take your new Harley out in the rain. There are no engine maps to assist you. It\u2019s your throttle hand that will land you in poo or take you out of it. I like that in a bike. You may not. Change the tyres.<\/p>\n

\"\"

I very much liked the minimisation of chrome. Evil is hard when you’re all sparkly.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Pretty neat and elegant, huh?<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

And speaking of riding in the rain, try to avoid it if you’re not a fan of having a sizeable geyser of water hitting you in the face. The position of the front guard does pretty much nothing to stop water being flung off the tyre and into your face. I found it refreshing and bracing. You might be a bitch about it.<\/p>\n

The sidestand was the worst thing on the bike. Harley used to have glorious side-stands; long bastards with a sort of locking mechanism that stopped the bikes rolling off the side-stands. Not no more. This new one is short and hard to deploy fully. I predict a lot of them will roll of this new side-stand.<\/p>\n

Oh, and you still can’t ride it in shorts. Your left leg will touch the hot primary if you put both legs down at the lights. You will only do this once, but.<\/p>\n

I thought the instrument cluster was an act of design genius. It sits on top of the handlebar clamp. It\u2019s small, as is its LCD read-out, but still relatively easy to see. It\u2019s just such a neat solution on a bike you don\u2019t spend a lot of time looking at the instruments on anyway. Trust me. You don\u2019t need a tacho to let you know when to change gears on an H-D. And if you don\u2019t know what gear you\u2019re in, maybe this motorcycle stuff isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n

Around town the Breakout is all evil, wicked, mean and nasty. Just as it should be. Just as it was always meant to be.<\/p>\n

I started checking myself out in shop windows a lot. I remembered to look as menacing as possible. I reminded myself not to ride into the car stopped in front of me. That would have ruined the whole effect of the Breakout.<\/p>\n

And I think that\u2019s what it is. The effect.<\/p>\n

\"\"

“Take me to party with strippers. I’m not even kidding.”<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s very outlaw, even if you\u2019re not. It\u2019s very outlaw even if you store unmelted butter in your mouth, and have grown a beard so people won\u2019t mistake you for a woman.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes the Breakout so desirable. It will transcend what you are, and make you seem like what you\u2019re not but might secretly like to be.<\/p>\n

If, like me, you\u2019re a once-was, then the Breakout will push all those horrible old buttons and make you long for what was and can never be again. Which is right and proper, but it\u2019s ever so nice to reminisce about it behind those fine wide \u2019bars.<\/p>\n

I think because of all this, the Breakout is most certainly the stone-cold coolest of all the current Harleys.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the one Harley that is, at least to my eye, not at all shy about its outlaw heritage.<\/p>\n

\"\"

“Why are you throwing that camera bag at me!?”<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s modern enough to satisfy even the most anti-Harley advocate \u2013 and make no mistake, good suspension, a lighter and stiffer chassis, decent brakes, a myriad of little styling and engineering tweaks, and a kick-arse engine will convert a lot of them if they take one for a ride.<\/p>\n

But despite this most welcome and very 2018 feel to the Breakout, it\u2019s the bike\u2019s look that really does it for me.<\/p>\n

I feel like a bad-arse riding it. I\u2019m not. But I feel like I am. And that is no small thing.<\/p>\n

I loved it.<\/p>\n

But I think maybe Harley should change the name. Breakout sounds a bit too soft for a motorcycle as visually and splendidly nasty as this one. Is Iron Panther taken?<\/p>\n

Thunder on, Milwaukee. I like what you\u2019re putting down in 2018.<\/p>\n

FOR SPECS AND PRICING, GO LOOK HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    IMAGES BY NICK EDARDS\/HALF LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC How\u2019s the chorus of that old fiddle classic The Devil Went Down To Georgia go again? Fire on the Mountain, run, boys, run The Devil\u00b4s in the House of the Rising Sun Yeah, that\u2019s it. I figure if ol\u2019 Lucifer was heading down to Georgia to visit [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":585578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4,330,111,106,58],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585549"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":586470,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585549\/revisions\/586470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}