The first bike that Harley launched as an exquisite CVO and created a mainstream model off the back of it has had a makeover, and it’s dark!
The Breakout has always had a Pro Street stance, to be fair, but this is something different, and it’s not just the upside-down forks in their robust three-bolt yokes that mark this out as special.
So very nearly a Breakout S – and you’ve got to wonder whether that might follow – Harley have really raised their game and have created a perfect marriage between CVO and Dark Custom in an almost satanic form: I can see people crossing themselves when they see this approach, and it will have acolytes on their knees when parked, poring over every detail.
The apparent lack of chrome makes it look more purposeful than most of the CVO offering of the past, relying on the tank’s trick but clever paint to mark it out as special, but don’t kid yourself that they’ve saved money on the components: they’ve just drawn a dark veil over them.
They haven’t actually lost the chrome either. Dais Nagao, Senior Stylist, said “We worked intensely with our plating suppliers to develop the hue and depth of Smoke Satin Chrome, and we are the first to use it in the motorcycle industry. It’s a finish that looks really contemporary and exclusive but also kind of sinister. We’ve carefully placed Smoke Satin Chrome next to a black surface so it creates a layered effect. For example the top rocker box is gloss black and the lower cover is Satin Smoke Chrome. It’s used on the exhaust header shields next to the black engine and mufflers, and we used it on the oil lines and fitting to add an unexpected detail.”
The 5-spoke Aggressor wheels get another treatment, seen for the first time on this model: Scorched Chrome, which looks blacker still.
That trick paint is a choice between solid Starfire Black – as here – or two-tone White Gold Pearl/Starfire Black, both with a hand-applied graphic stripe that flows along the tank and back mudguard, and are understated in CVO terms, but then Director of Styling, Brad Richards, explains that “it takes it cues from the streets and reflects our own changing tastes. It still delivers the depth of detail, value and the bragging rights that the CVO customer expects, but it gets there in a different way. Its colours may be subdued but they have incredible depth. We’re developing alternate finishes to bright chrome – brushed and anodized surfaces, and tinted clearcoat, for example – and the Breakout really lent itself to this new styling direction.”
The surprise change is the swapping of the tall but wide 21-inch wheel from all Breakouts to date for a 19-inch with a 130-section tyre, although combined with the stiff 43mm USD forks it will enhance agility – you’ll be pleased to note that CVO footrests don’t have the silly tell tales – and with the wind-cheating ‘speed screen’, matched to a chin spoiler, to help reduce the load when using the power and long legs of the free-breathing 110-inch Twin Cam, I can see these being used hard.
It retains the excellent Assist and Slip hydraulic clutch of the regular CVO model, but has a more aggressive stance with its flatter 1¼-inch ’bars, Harley’s biggest and most potent air-cooled production engine breathes through an open element Screamin’ Eagle Heavy Breather Elite air cleaner and blunt cut mufflers ‘to extract maximum performance’ and you get all of this for £19,995 – a full £2k less than the last CVO Breakout!
2016 CVO Breakout Pro-Street
Length:
2,330mm
Seat Height:
660mm
Fuel Capacity:
18.9l
Dry Weight:
318kg
Engine:
Screamin’ Eagle Air-cooled Twin Cam 110B
Displacement:
1801cc
Torque:
151Nm/111.4ftlb@3,500rpm
Wheels/Tyres:
Front: Scorched Chrome ‘Aggressor’, 130/60B19
Rear: Scorched Chrome ‘Aggressor’, 240/40B17
Colour:
Starfire Black, Two-tone White Gold/Starfire Black
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