Harley Compensator

We studied every thing we could think of or have suggested to us as To the cause. Oil levels were one. I even tried a variety of levels of oil and test run a few hundred miles then pull apart for inspection. Lower levels we found no change in wear. I even tried 2 quarts and still the same wear showing up. In the end we were able to nail it down to 2 things. Very little oil available as described in my last post and centrifugal force clearing what oil does get to it. As for not seeing or hearing about bikes on the side of the road. The compensator will make noise that continues to grow louder until the rider has had enough and replaces the comp. Of the hundreds of failed units I have inspected I am aware of 1 that had fretted and damaged the sprocket bore and bearing Sleeve to the point of being seized into a solid sprocket. Mostly just bad spoke and sprocket bore wear. Never known of one leaving the bike inoperable. As I travel around the country I stop and visit with every Harley dealer I can. 2 things I always do is go to parts and ask how many comps they have in stock. That us an eye opener in itself. My local dealer keeps 6 to. 8 in stock. Also I go the service and ask if any bikes are in for a comp. I find it the exception to NOT see one or more in for a comp install.
Why there are some that seem to last is something we are continuing to look at but to date no solid data on why.
RichardK

They also had to walk to and from school up hill both ways !


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One thing that I find very interesting is that there is no information given on how many of these bikes with comp failures are bone stock bikes? My hunch says very very few in comparison to those that are hopped up. Bigger bang, more aggressive riding equals more stress on an already weak bottom end. So is it the fault of the MOCO or the hot rodders that go ape shit for power then blame the MOCO?

No way that the ratio of bone stock bikes is greater than the ratio of hopped up bikes. You guys are running the 110. That isn't considered a wimpy engine.

Numbers in how many failures will likely never be known. There has been an effort mounted to force the Transportation Safety to force a recall. Not enough injuries or deaths for those folks to get it done. Harley folks are masters at locking information from the public. Dealers have been under threat from the MoCo for years to not say anything on the topic. Harley has added more manufacturers to produce the units. And it just goes on and on. Basically if you own an 07 or later TC the comp will likely fail short of the expected service life of the bike.
Comp issues have little to do with stock or built. Take a torque wrench to the bolt on it and you can pull the comp to full rotation and locked position at around 120-140 ft lbs of torque. The unit is designed to cushion initial launch shock and cruise speed comfort. Hammer the throttle and the comp will go to lock and you are essentially running a solid sprocket as long as the torque rating is exceeded.
So where all the damage comes in is when you are cruising for long distances and the unit is constantly rocking back and forth hours on end. Lots more to all this but to much to detail now. So it is doing the job it was designed to do but is starved of the necessary lubrication to stay healthy.
RichardK

Ok here is my thoughts on this comp issues. First off the late model bikes gearing sucks to come out of the hole .so it takes alot more torque on the crank to get the heavy bikes going especially trikes and full dressers. Second with the taller gearing more people tend to lug them at cruise speed and tend to roll on the throttle while they lug them .throw a long stroke crank in the mix now the rocking back and fourth on the comp is multiplied even more. The lack of lube to the comp is a poor designed system and the lack of high pressure additive removed from the oils by the epa like zink and phosphate because we now use 20 w 50 in the primary does not help in a high pressure area as the comp . the load on the wafer thin bearing is a piss poor design you need more cushion in that high load area and less lube is not going to help and lack of high pressure lube on the loads of the comp it will fail .

Stupid question on a topic I know nothing about. Basically the compensator absorbs engine torque and power pulses to cushion the impact and avoid/lessen trans wear?
Why not a replacement that uses a fluid/magnetic coupling to lessen the shock of the engine torque thru the trans? If I remember, AMC had a fluid coupling for its AWD on the Spirit wagons back in the late 70s, early 80s, idea was ahead of its time even if the execution lacked a bit. Also many late model AWD systems use a magnetic coupling to engage at the rate desired. Could this not be designed to absorb the power pulses of the engine? Or is this in the works for H-D in a lab somewhere?

Isn't that the truth that the people on HTT pound their bikes hard. I like power but the shit they do is just insane. 100% spot on that these kind of people will find the weak links. What I find amusing is that they then blame the MOCOer for using not as intended.

I won't sit here and say that no stock bikes haven't had comp issues but I will say that I personally know of no one t h at I am friends with or have ridden with that have had a compensator fail. Derek isn't even familiar with failing comps and 90% of his business are Harley's.

I am not really siding with HRK because I know that there is an issue with them as there are so many different people complaining about it. However I think all that he is saying is that his group of friends aren't experiencing what the masses seem to be. Like I said, I myself with the people I ride with, none of them have experienced a comp failure.

HTT is a great technical site. Probably the best in that regard, but they are extreme.

I ride my bike pretty hard and the first thing i did when i got the road glide waas dump all the epa fluids and put real lude in all three holes .next it got punishment on the dyno for many hours and then got 5 hours of punishment on the way home and many months of new found power punishment for tthe last 4 months .no comp issuies yet.i have this little thing called a shifter on the left side of the bike .i dont lug it!