Harley-Davidson Breakout Gets $25K Worth of Extra Wheels and Gear, Becomes Purple Power

You might not recognize it as such, but sometime in its past this bike was a dull-looking-by-comparison Breakout. You know, the ride sold by Harley for $22,499 (at the time of writing) as the "raked-out cruiser that packs Milwaukee-Eight 117 V-Twin muscle."

But the bike's past life is all behind it now, surpassed by new looks and capabilities provided by German custom specialist Thunderbike with little regard to what people might think about it, or to how much the owner ultimately had to pay for it.

Described as a Special Forces man's dream, the ride embraces all the changes Thunderbike has gotten us used to over the years, starting with the impressive new wheels from the in-house-made Grand Prix series.

The one at the front is a massive 23 inches in diameter and sits under a properly-styled fender and ahead of a chin fairing that really pumps up the aggressiveness of the two-wheeler. At the back, the wheel is sized at 21 inches, and it sits under an equally impressive fender.

Both wheels are painted bright gold, a perfect offset for the metallic glow of the blue spread all over the rest of the bike. An air ride suspension system has been installed to let the Breakout lower and raise itself so that it impresses both while on the move and when stationary.

The frame and engine of the Purple Power remain Breakout at their core, but everything else around them has changed, from the larger bits to the smaller ones: the fuel tank is new and made of aluminum, the handlebars likewise, and so are the turn signals.

The only change made to the bike's powerplant is the fitting of a KessTech muffler, and the sound it makes can be enjoyed from the top of a leather seat.

I said at the beginning of this piece the Purple Power is twice as expensive as the bike it is based on, and that's owed not in small part to the very expensive parts that were used for the project: the frontend assembly, the fuel tank, the air ride, and the single-side swingarm.

Combined with all the other extras added (a total of around 30 distinct parts), the value of the build jumps by over $25,000 over the cost of the Breakout, and that's not including the paint job (which looks pretty expensive too) and the man hours spent on putting it together.