Other way to diagnose a HG would be a leak down or compression test, I'm sure. Things break at the worst time, I don't have the time to fix it for 8 weeks. No way I'm waiting 8 weeks to ride my bike. I'm calling fuel moto to see if they have insight or what they suggest and then dropping her off at my Indy.

 

I thought about it today, and I have had a weak battery since I bought it. If it doesn't get ridden far enough or lights get left on it used to hesitate before it finished cranking.

So now I'm thinking the noises are coming from an underpowered starter, coupled with a cold motor. It hit me today when I forgot to hit the CRs and it still didnt like cranking over when warm.

And I would definitely recommend the CRs after having mine for a couple days. Still out riding, should get 5-600 break in miles before I switch back to synthetic and head south for the 5k mile trip

Jake

 

Jake sounds very similar to all the thought processes I had when my compensator started to fail. Mine would start cold fine, but complain loudly when hot.

One thing is at least it won't be needed to deal with for your trip. it's a PITA but not going to prevent you from riding.

One thing I will say, is if you do upgrade the compensator you'll be amazed at how much differently the bike "hooks up" when you upshift going through the gears. So it's not just when starting (but you notice it most there) but it also is most likely getting sloppy during shifting when riding. The difference in the spring in the SE comp is night and day over the stocker.

HD should be a shamed of that stocker.

 

My question with the new compensators, why did HD change from something that worked for a lot years? I have never had any compensator issues in the bikes I've had. It is one of the reasons that I have stayed with my 2003 FLHR.

 

I'm guessing it has to do with larger displacements, more tq, and also looser crank tolerances....

 

My compensator went out a few rides after the 107 upgrade. I thought I could put it off but it's a must when upgrading. Definitely can put off upgrading for a bit but it might cost a little more later when it causes other things to fail. My compensator was knocking bad when I swapped it out. Had the parts but didn't have the time to fix it

 

It was nice to startthe bike without the nasty grinding sounds. But even better to do a strong acceleration shift from 2nd to 3rd and feel the bike surge forward with immediate power.

So I'm glad I did it.

 

I thought you were kidding around. After putting in the spring it definitely wants to launch from a stop now instead of having to give a little throttle.

The factory spring almost felt like a high stall torque converter compared to the new one lol.


Jake

 

Well my starter clutch took a dump today on the dyno :/

Hopefully it was just a weak starter the whole time! Going to test the battery anyway

Jake

 

Well I finally was able to test run my bike today after the 107" build. I cranked it over a few times with the plugs out until I seen oil pressure on the guage. Put the plugs in and it fired up first crank. It had a bit of top end noise for the first few minutes, but once it started getting warm it all went away. Very quiet actually. No leaks, no noises, nothing. Boy was I happy!

I also ordered my SE compensator parts today. $650 Canadian, that included the alternator rotor, the glue for that plastic deflector, all gaskets for both inner and outer primary covers, sales tax, etc.