I have this tapping/clinking noise that is not in rhythm with the motor and is very random. I stopped at the deal today and had a tech have a listen...right off the top he says its a loose or worn compensator, so I head home and pull the primary cover off and everything seem fine, chain is tight and the compensator nut is tight 150 lb would not break it loose.

Can the compensator still be a problem, what are the tell tail signs, Is there anything else I should be look for?

 

Check out my post and albums. Mine made this random noise for two years and Harley Dealer took it apart and missed the problem. My nut appeared to be tight but it was just the loctite. You need to look and read my post since I went into a lot of detail that I will not repeat here. I doubt the compensator is worn out. That part is tough.

 

Re-torque the nut and see if the noise goes away.

 

The spline in the alternator rotor is a real weak link here. If it shears off you are not going to know it because the compensator spring pushing up against it will drive the alternator with no problem. The problem is after a lot of mile it will slip enough to wear a groove which will let the sprocket slowly move inward and the chain will start nicking the side of the sprocket making the noise. The red locktite on the compensator will give you the impression the nut is still tight. It will take 300-500 foot pounds to break the locktite. Once broken loose, the nut needs to be screwed off and the threads cleaned up and three drops of red applied to middle of threads in the nut and then retorque the nut. If going this far the clutch hub needs to be pulled so you can pull compensator hub off to check the spline in alternator.

 

Thanks for the input..found this video where he does it without removing the clutch pack. I have a shifter shaft that is leaking slightly so as long as Im in here I might as well take it right down. If after assembly I still have the noise I may have no other choice but the dealer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8yF4...eature=related

 

Great video. One thing he has in error is you should have your adjustment shoe laying down on the bottom of the primary case when you break the nut. If nut is real tight with red locktite it will be much tighter then it appeared in the video and the stress on the shoe may crack it. (This is out of service manual) Also I think it may be how loose your chain has worn that allows it to come off without clutch pack. Mine appears to bend sideways at least an inch but I could not get it to come the last small amount with out jerking it. Did you check the chain alignment?

 

I got the compensator off last night with out pulling the clutch pack...it was real easy. I checked in side the case and no marks of the chain hitting, sprockets looked normal with no sign of wear. The compensator was tight and I couldn't move it by hand (needed a breaker bar and 3 ft pipe to break her loose, made a locking tool out of the wife's plastic cutting board) I have read were you may need to shim the comp bolt to prevent it from bottoming out. I'm stopping at the dealer today to let them have a look at the comp assembly to see if its an issue of perhaps the spring pack being worn or weak.

I have a Stage 1 95 kit...wonder if this is an issue

 

Just back from the dealer (great bunch of guys) the tech had a look at my comp and said spring pack was shot/weak. SE does not make one for my bike so I went with a Drag Specialties complete comp kit, looks just the same as the HD kit. I can get the complete DS kit for the cost of the HD spring pack

 

Thank you for posting this information!)