On my way to Laconia this year in 7 hrs of pouring rain I started hearing a noise coming from up near the compensator. it makes the noise all the time in neutral in gear sounds like a supercharger. Listened with a stethoscope and noise comming from by the compensator. anybody else have a similar noise? Driving me crazy. I just changed the fluid and adjusted the chain. Still there.

 

I'd say the first thing to check would be the motor to just see if it is tight. Th 07 and later models have had some compensator issues but the early models like yours were pretty solid but it's worth a look.