One Fourteen Harley-Davidson Breakout

“There you go, bro — no-one’s got that paint job,” he laughs, giving me my bike back.

I’VE built a few nice cars over the years that still get around. I’ve always had heaps of dirt bikes growing up and, in fact, still have one now, my KXF which serves its purpose. I had an itch to get out on the road so I got myself a GSXR Crouch Rocket and the thing was mental; it was probably too fast for me on the road.

But I still had that itch that I wanted a Harley-Davidson. My mates had Softails and V-Rods, Night Trains, etc, but I didn’t want to settle for just any Harley — I wanted a Breakout.

I was in love with the Breakout M8 motor — the bike looked tough as. But it still wasn’t quite the way I wanted it so I got Chris from Quality Harleys Queensland to order the bike and get the build going.

We started off with the airbag kit and 23-inch front wheel, custom front fender to match, fork covers, etc. We blacked out the whole bike including bolts, and installed a radius 2-2 exhaust, some Willy G Series pegs front and back with grips to match.

I hated the gauge on the 2020 model; they came with the LED gauge which I pissed off the ugly, big bulky thing.

I also went with the mini oval mirrors with the LED Under Perch Indicators to get that sleek look; and with the tail-tidy, the bike was looking mean!

Chris was amazing to work with via email and phone contact. I was nervous as hell at the beginning doing all this bike unseen especially $$$ wise — but when the bike arrives I’m like a kid at Christmas — it’s 4.30 am in the morning, the truck rolls in, the driver gets her off, I sign the paperwork and I’m off… ride her down street and back and into the garage — I was in love.

Still, she wasn’t quite right. I wanted it to look the way it does now so I ordered a headlight surround from Germany and got it on the bike.

Basically, the bike was so dark and I wanted it to stand out in its own right, so I went and saw my good mate Baydon at Pryce Refinishers in Hume.

The bike comes back with three-layer candy blue with a 24-carat gold inlay with blue lines to offset the gold. It changed the whole look of the bike.

“There you go, bro — no-one’s got that paint job,” he laughs, giving me my bike back.

I’m blown away at the work that Baydon puts out and to finally have my own Harley with my best mate do the custom paint work makes the bike priceless in its own sense.

My other friend, Chris, who owns Southside Kustoms in Hume, also detailed the bike, ceramic-coated it and put some blue walls on it for me. The walls really set the bike off. He keeps it immaculate for me.

The bike looked amazing but it still went like a stock Breakout M8 that I was getting used to very quickly.

I took it to Canberra Harley and got the Stage 2 kit with S&S 475 cams and some other little goodies to support the new cam. The bike made heaps of good gains in torque and HP. It felt like a totally different bike to ride and hear. It sounds so nice and lumpy, like a Harley should sound, I guess.

There was one thing left to do. I had to go see my good friend Bec at Trims by Bec. Where do I start, she’s so talented in what she does. Her work is simply the best in Australia; it’s ridiculous some of the cars I’ve seen her do. First hand, it’s ridiculous, she knows exactly what she is doing and is bloody amazing at it.

So, I went over to her home and gave her free range to do what she wanted with the seat. When it came back, I was speechless. I guess I’ll leave the pics for you guys to check out but it was all cut down reshaped and re-trimmed. It feels great when you’re on the bike; made it lower and looks so much better than the stock one.

So that’s my 2020 breakout build. It’s my bike, my way, and I fucking love it.

Thanks for the shoot Julius. Thank you to Chris at Quality Harleys Queensland for the build; Baydon Pryce at Pryce Refinishers, Hume, ACT, for doing what he does best and made it look amazing; Chris at Southside Kustoms for keeping her clean and the walls bright; and Bec at Trims by Bec in the ACT for the seat and trim work she continues to do for all the boys — you are an amazing girl.

Ride safe guys.