Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR, M8 107) Maintenance Sched

This is the maintenance schedule and service intervals for the Harley-Davidson FXBR Breakout, the up-spec Breakout based on the Milwaukee-Eight 107, released mid-2017 and made through 2022, though replaced by the 114 FXBRS exclusively in some markets.

The Harley-Davidson Breakout is a low custom chopper-style motorcycle that Harley-Davidson originally released in 2013 in CVO form with the FXSBSE Breakout, using a Twin Cam 110B motor. They shortly afterwards released the “standard” FXSB Breakout with the 103B motor.

From mid 2017, Harley-Davidson gave the Breakout the new Softail chassis and Milwaukee-Eight 107 motor, bringing a new era of handling and power (more even than the previous CVO model). Harley-Davidson also released the FXBRS Breakout with the 114 motor from 2018.

The 107 was made to 2019, but the FXBRS with the 114 motor was made (in international markets) through to 2022.

The final drive is, like with most Harley-Davidsons, a six-speed “Cruise Drive” and a belt.

From 2023, Harley Davidson refreshed the FXBR with the top-of-the-line Milwaukee-Eight 117 motor in the 2023+ Harley-Davidson Breakout 117, plus other upgrades.

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Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR, M8 107) Service Intervals

Like most Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the Harley-Davidson FXBR Breakout has 5000 mile / 8000 km or annual service intervals.

At every service, change the oil and filter, and look over the motorcycle for items needing lubrication, adjustment, or cleaning. Also check wearable items (like hoses and tires) to see if they’re still in good condition.

As the Harley-Davidson Breakout (like all Milwaukee-Eight-powered motorcycles) has self-adjusting hydraulic valves, there is no prescribed valve service interval. However, Harley-Davidson does suggest you change the spark plugs every 30000 miles / 48000 km or two years. If the valve train becomes noisy, then the tappets might need inspecting for correct function.

As well as engine oil, you need to periodically replace both primary chaincase lubricant and transmission lubricant, though less often than the oil (see the schedule below).

A number of items need to be done less frequently, like changing the brake fluid. See the schedule for more details.

Maintenance schedule for the Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR 107)

Below is the service schedule for the Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR) made between 2017 and 2022. This comes from the Softail manual, but has been simplified for legibility.

For convenience, we’ve ordered it so that the most important elements (fluid changes and major checks) are at the top, and we’ve separated the items to inspect (e.g. condition of cables and moving parts) into a separate “inspection checklist”.

Notes

The maintenance schedule for the Breakout is cut off at 30000 miles / 48000 km to avoid repetitiveness. Keep repeating it after this point in the pattern shown.
Some items (like the oil change) have a time-based or distance-based service interval. Use the earlier of the two.

mi x 1000	5	10	15	20	25	30
km x 1000	8	16	24	32	40	48	Every
Inspection checklist (see below) – Perform	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Year (some items only)
Engine oil – Replace Drain plug torque: 19-25 Nm / 14-21 lb-ft	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Year See notes below
Oil filter – Replace Hand-tighten with a rag	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Year
Air cleaner filter – Inspect Clean as necessary in lukewarm water with mild detergent	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	More often if riding in severe conditions.
Spark plugs – Replace						✓	2 years
(Spoked rims) Spoke tightness (front and rear) – Check	✓			✓			More often if riding in severe conditions.
Hand control switch housing screw torque – Tighten		✓		✓		✓	Year
Master cylinder handlebar clamp screw torque — Tighten		✓		✓		✓	Year
Front brake handlebar clamp screw torque – Tighten		✓		✓		✓	Year
Steering head bearings — Adjust / Lubricate as necessary		✓		✓		✓
Steering head bearings – Lubricate						✓
Windshield (if fitted) bushings – Inspect		✓		✓		✓
Primary chaincase lubricant – Replace		✓		✓		✓	More often if riding in severe conditions.
Transmission lubricant – Replace				✓			More often if riding in severe conditions.
Brake fluid – Replace (use DOT 4 fluid e.g. Castrol DOT 4)							2 years, or if moisture is >3%
Front and rear axle nut torque – Tighten		✓		✓		✓	Year
12 battery – Check battery, terminal torque, and clean connections. Lubricate with electrical contact lubricant							Year
Front forks — Rebuild (seals, fluid)							50,000 mi (80,000 km)
Fuel filter – Replace							100000 mi (161000 km)

Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight (Air/Oil-cooled) Softail Maintenance Schedule

Inspection Checklist

Below is the standard service checklist for the Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR, Milwaukee-Eight 107). Do this according to the schedule above.

Items on the right hand side are those that have annual service intervals.

Standard Inspection Checklist — Softail, Milwaukee Eight	Annual
Drive belt and sprockets – Inspect for wear
Drive belt – Check / Adjust tension See notes below on checking / adjusting belt tension
Rear sprocket isolators – Inspect at every tire change
Electrical equipment and switches – Inspect for correct function
Tire pressure and tread (front and rear) – Check	✓
Brake and clutch controls – Lubricate
Brake pads and discs (front and rear) – Check wear and that the discs run true Minimum pad thickness: 0.04 in / 1 mm
Brake fluid level (front and rear) – Inspect level (fluid drops as pads wear), and check moisture content. Replace if moisture over 3%. (Castrol DOT 4)	✓
Clutch cable – Adjust and check for leaks, contact, or abrasion. Lubricate cable with Harley-Davidson lubricant
Fuel lines and fittings — Inspect for routing, condition, leaks, and abrasion	✓
Oil cooler – Clean
Oil and brake lines – Inspect for wear / routing	✓
Jiffy stand – Lubricate
Exhaust system, fasteners, and shields – Inspect	✓
Fuel tank cap / hinge / latch – Lubricate
Component and system function – Road test

Standard Annual Service (Harley-Davidson Milwaukee Eight, Softail)

Belt Maintenance

Below are more details on belt maintenance of your FXBR Harley-Davidson Breakout.

To check the belt tension on the Harley-Davidson FXBR Breakout, follow the procedure below.

You need a belt tension tool and a ruler. You can use either the standard Harley-Davidson tool or a generic one (they do the same thing).

Put the motorcycle in neutral on its stand, with the rear wheel on the ground.
Push up on the middle of the bottom half of the belt until the belt tension gauge registers 10 lb (4.5 kg) of pressure.
Use the ruler to measure belt tension.

Target belt tension for the Harley-Davidson FXBR: 1/2-9/16 in / 12.7-14.2 mm

If the belt tension is out of spec, you can either adjust it yourself if you’re familiar with how, or take it to a dealer.

Tires sizes for the Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR 107)

The Harley-Davidson Breakout FXBR 107 runs Michelin Scorcher tires that are made specifically for the Breakout.

Wheel	Tire size	Tire pressures (cold)
Front	130/60B21 BW	36 psi / 248 kPa
Rear	240/40R18 BW	42 psi / 290 kPa

Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR 107) tire size

Harley-Davidson Breakout (FXBR / FXBRS) Review

Harley-Davidson Breakout FXBR Milwaukee-Eight 107 front headlight

The Harley-Davidson Breakout is a relatively new model in H-D’s line-up, which can have model names / styles running back decades.

Of course, Harley-Davidson has made “custom”-style cruisers before, but the 2013 CVO Breakout was the first of its name.

Initially, Harley-Davidson released the Breakout as a CVO model. This was unusual. H-D usually blesses existing models with CVO tuning after a while, taking turns with models in their line-up. But they decided to release the first Breakout as a CVO instead — the FXSBSE CVO Breakout with the Twin Cam 110B motor.

But Harley-Davidson very quickly realised the Breakout was a success, and released it in more affordable everyday trim, with the still-great 103B motor. The Harley-Davidson Breakout’s motor was solid-mounted to the Softail chassis (as is the case with all Softails of the time), which is why Harley-Davidson gave it a “B” — a balancing shaft.

So why doesn’t the Milwaukee-Eight have a “B” in it for the Softail? Because the M8 motor is all around much smoother and less vibey. It doesn’t need it. The Milwaukee-Eight just comes in one flavour, though with different engine capacities and states of tune.

Aside from the motor upgrade, the 2017+ Softail-based Harley-Davidson Breakout is altogether a superior motorcycle. The Milwaukee-Eight Softail platform also got a lot of upgrades to the chassis, which make it altogether a much easier to handle bike.

The Harley-Davidson Breakout still wouldn’t be your bike of choice for “cornering on rails”, of course. Look, it handles fine. But you can’t ignore the fact that it has a big rear tire and limited ground clearance. It’s cool looking, but you don’t want to go wide because you’ve touched hard parts around that hairpin turn.

Of course, the FXBR Breakout is no lightweight — in running order (with ~90% full tank of gas), it weighs a considerable 305 kg / 672 lb. So you wouldn’t expect to be able to push it over like on a literbike that makes twice the power and has less than 2/3 the weight. But this weight is pretty run-of-the-mill for a Harley-Davidson.

The 2017-2022 Harley-Davidson Breakout has a 3.5 US Gallon / 13.25 L tank of gas. It’s fine, given the Breakout is just meant as an everyday cruiser, but it means that you’re at the pump quite often. The 2023 improved the tank size, and most people are happy about that — in fact, some dealers say that the small tank size of the earlier FXBR was a deal-breaker. Filling up every 100 miles or so just gets… annoying.