Harley calls this one of their two Big
Twin entry-level models, but I'm not sure
it's an entry, but rather a destination.
It is bound to attract the gaze of small
riders looking for more than a Sportster
or Street. I'm not sure those riders will be
looking at much past this, however. May-
be the new Heritage if they're looking
for a touring bike. For people attracted to
the Low Rider's 80s aesthetic, it's also the
only one that rocks it New Wave style in
this lineup.
For me? I prefer the last version of
the Low Rider. It's the most recently
redesigned of the models reintroduced.
It had some groundbreaking size-ad-
justable features on it that this iteration
lacks, while striking the exact same
profile. When queried about the Dyna
Low Rider's quick demise and the lack of
size-adjusting features on this bike, the
answer (from one of H-D's designers)
was telling: "Did anybody ever adjust
that stuff?" He followed up that the
clutch cable (on all Softails) is a two-piece
design, to make handlebar changes less
complicated and costly.
I BREAKOUT
Settling into the low-slung cockpit of
the Breakout couldn't have felt better.
The fat bar has a wide radius bend that
puts my hands right where I like them.
The seat drops me close to the ground,
but is still supportive. And it was the
first model I rode with forward controls,
which is my preferred layout on a cruiser.
This is, essentially, what a Softail has
been for most of its existence.
Unlike the Softail Custom that was the
purest version of the Softail for its first
20ish years, the Breakout is what those
Customs became when they were actual-
ly customized. With wide tires front and
rear, and just the right mix of chrome
CYCLE NEWS CRUISER BUYERS GUIDE