First off, I live in Italy...reliable advise is not the easiest thing for a American to find over here, that is why I ask you guys this. I have searched a bunch through the forum, but still not completely confident on my diagnosis.

Symptom #1; About a year ago I heard a scratching sound coming from the primary immediately after engine start... after shutdown and restart, the sound went away. This happened about 5-6 times, now I have not heard the sound for about 6 months. Sounded like a piece of metal literally scraping the inside of my primary cover. Not sure if it is related to symptom #2 or #3, but I have not heard it for a while...

Symptom #2; Rattling sound under acceleration, under heavy (1/2 throttle +) in every gear. I originally mistook this for ignition "ping" but now not so sure after hours of remapping and adjusting the timing...only to never hear a difference. Rattling sound is most evident after bike is warmed-up.

Symptom #3; Now notice a small growl like there is a few pebbles in my primary. Notice the sounds at idle, in neutral sitting in my garage.

Corrective Action #1; First, after a number timing adjustments... While installing my new clutch, I spent an extended amount of time looking at the compensator to ensure it was tight...heard/read about loose compensator nuts.

Corrective Action #2; Read my back-side off on the forums trying to find similar symptoms...

Corrective Action #3; Ask you all for some help.

JR's Diagnosis; I think my compensator is bad/going bad...but not yet convinced. Symptoms #2 and #3 have me very nervous. I have an 04 Fatboy with just over 40K miles. Nothing done to the engine except stage 1 air cleaner, supertrapp 2 into 1, zippers thundermax tuner, and many hard mountain miles...

Would love to hear your ideas.
JR

 

Couple of questions. First how much slack was in the primary chain? Are there any signs of it touching the case? What kind of shape is the shoe on the adjuster in? Sounds more like a chain issue to me from what you have posted but hard to tell with out looking at it.
Jimmy

 

I would check chain adjustment and tensioner shoe wear as BFMC Gadget suggests. However, the Bellville springs in the early compensators will lose tension and make noise. There is a DIY fix which would be to add a spring; even a worn spring will restore the tension. However, being in Italy there are probably not a lot of "used" compensators laying around at a dealership. If there are, ****** one, pry back the the crimps in the shell, remove a spring and add it to your compensator. Vice grips and a vise or arbor ress are the only tools required.

If that is not an option, just replace the compensator but when you have it apart, trim the compensator "nut" down .030". It was not uncommon for the early comp nuts to "bottom out". The nut would be torqued to spec but not developing the clamping pressure necessary to keep the compensator tight. Doesn't sound like this is an issue for you but it won't hurt to shave the compensator down a bit while you have it off, just insurance.

 

????First, after a number timing adjustments...???

What do you mean by the above? How many miles on the bike? My 04 is pretty much the same test bed and I been in the primary twice, but need to have a little more history . Guess you have same compensator and nut style as mine. Here is a picture of me verifying what djl is talking about. The newer style bike with the seration drive rather then the large splines like ours are different unless you are running the SE Comp. I seriously since you looked that it is loose. The gap mine had to go before bottoming was a little over 1/16" Plenty but worth measuring if you have it apart. I show rulers, but I actually measured it with a dial caliper.