I guess I'm more curious about who is still running the stock compensator and how many miles they have on it? I'm thinking I'll replace mine myself at my own expense next winter.

 

Ironic that this post came up today. I have been reading here about all the compensator issues and have worried about it myself. I have a 2010 StreetGlide that I purchased 3/2010. With about 13K miles on it now I am beginning to wonder if I have the "symptoms" or not of a compensator going south. I HATE the BANG when I start it but dont seem to hear any "marbles" rolling around in the primary.
Yesterday I finally went down to "my" Dealer and looked up the Service Manager to have a conversation with him on the subject. I asked him what the dealership's experiences have been with failing compensators on the newer Touring models such as my StreetGlide. His first response/reaction was he acted like I was speaking in some foreign language or something. He acted like he had never heard of ANY issues with compensators period. I tried to explain to him the symptoms and what I had been reading about here on the Forum and how HD has begun using the Screaming Eagle compensators in the 2011 models. Again more blank looks at me. He also tried to tell me that the compensators in the 2011s was the same as all previous years since 2007. He started looking up in his computer the part numbers and checking to see how many they had ordered. He then commented that they had only replace THREE in the past FOUR YEARS! I began to feel like I was getting a run around and getting no where with the issue. His final comment to me was asking me why I was worried since I still had a year of warranty left. I told him I would rather take preventative action than wait for the compensator to explode and do serious damage to the motor. He then started telling me that even if it did it would cause minimal damage to the motor and at worse could possibly damage the crank but was HIGHLY UNLIKELY to happen even then. As far as who would pay what his only comment was that if the compensator failed under warranty they would obviously replace it at no cost to me. If I then decided I wanted it replaced with the SE version they would do that as well as long as I agreed to pay for the SE version as they would only replace with the original parts at no cost.

I left with the usual feeling that I do whenever I have visited them........phucked again. I just hate the condescending attitude of service reps/mgr when they act like they know everything and you know nothing. I am by no means a mechanic and I dont pretend to be one. I do however feel I am a reasonable intelligent person and it pisses me when treated otherwise. I was King For A Day when I spent $27K with them on the new bike but now I am just another douchebag wandering around in their store asking stupid questions. He also told me I shouldnt believe everything I read on the internet. Phuckhead!

 

07 Ultra with 28k miles with stock compensator.

 

2007 SG with 12k and a 103 stage ll from day one....still on the stock one....
Thinking of changing it out this spring....

 

So is there any cause for concern for 2011 flhx and comp problems ? or did the moco change it? thanks ryd//

 

To the OP:

Mine was replaced on my '0-10 under warranty, but Harley played a bit of a 'name-game' on the invoice and what they did. The dealer wasn't able to get approval, under warranty, to replace the compensator as a complete part number with the SE. Instead, the dealer had to order all the parts that comprised of the SE compensator, and replaced. I didn't pay anything, but was willing to just to get the noise-clunk-at-start-up issue resolved. And it did resolve it.

"So is there any cause for concern for 2011 flhx and comp problems ? or did the moco change it? thanks ryd//" - The SE compensator became standard equipment for the 2011-model year.

 

When I took my 2010 Ultra Limited in for it's 5k service, the dealer called me and said they found a leak and had to pull the primary cover. I asked them to check the compensator also. He said it was out of spec enough too replace under warranty. I just paid the $100.00 differance for the SE comp. I noticed a big differance when I started it up, no more knock! It had the knock from day one so I just thought it was normal. If I hadn't read about the compensator issues on this forum, I would have never thought to have them check it.

 

I know they changed to the SE compensator on the Ultra Limited with the 103 but not sure about the bikes with the 96

 

I had the Screaming Eagle comp installed last month on my 09 SG with about 11000 miles. I've put on almost a 1000 miles since the install and for me the clunk at the start is still there, but it does seem to shift a little smoother. If I had to choose whether or not to do it again, I would say yes mainly because the feel of letting out the clutch during takeoffs is much smoother. Its hard to explain my problem, but the clutch with the stock comp felt like it was slipping on take offs and riding slow in the friction zone was difficult. Why the SE comp fix this I don't know. But it is much better now.

Beary

 

I have an '09 Ultra Classic, about 4,800 miles on it - I bought the bike used last year in July, my warranty runs out April 1st...