My primary drain plug was a little "furrier" than usual when I drained the primary after only 1,643 miles on fresh Formula+. Finally had enough of the excessive noise coming out of my primary during a recent road trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, so I drained the primary and removed the cover to have a look around. My primary chain was pretty loose so I tightened it up and now waiting for the weather to clear for a test ride. Had the SE compensator installed a couple months ago so that's not the source of the noise. Wondering if I should be concerned about the excess fur on the drain plug....

2009 Ultra Classic. Stage 1. Jackpot slip-ons. 30,000 easy miles.

 

It is easy enough to rationalize new comp/chain wearing in with each other. What tensioner do you have that the chain was loose and you adjusted it? Stock tensioner should have kept it snug. I have seen pictures of the ratchet rail on the tensioner being bent probably from the old comp bottoming out at each start. Did the tensioner look normal?

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I just did the 40,000 mile service on my 07 Road King and my plug probably had twice that amount including a couple of slivers. It's been like that every time I have changed the primary fluid and still runs like a well oiled machine.

I would be more concerned about why your primary chain was loose. If you have the automatic tensioner something is not right. The auto tensioner is known for running too tight, not too loose. I have the Hayden M6 tensioner so I don't have to worry about that either.

 

Stock auto-tensioner. I just looked back over my previous posts and realized I have been complaining about the primary noise for quite a while. This is just the first time I have personally looked inside the primary case so maybe the chain has been loose all along. I moved the wedge two notches and maybe could have gone three, but wanted to ride it before going any further. The stock tensioner looked ok but it took some fairly stout persuasion to move the wedge, so perhaps the tensioner crapped out on me some time ago.

 

It,s not bad.

 

Ok. I tightened up the primary chain two notches and now I have a slight whine to go along with the annoying chattering noise, so I am willing to say the chatter was not because of a loose primary chain. Also not the compensator (installed SE compensator), not the primary fluid (new Formula+) and not the "neutral rattle" (chatters at 2500 rpm, whether in neutral or under load). Anybody got any other ideas?

 

No worry, its normal to have shavings on the drain plug.

 

Thats nothing!

 

Stuff on drain plug looks normal. Didn't know the automatic tensioner was adjustable? And they are known for running tight. If you now have a whining noise after "adjusting" the automatic adjusting tensioner I would return it back to it's previous position

 

Spent some time wrestling with the auto-tensioner today. Couldn't figure out how to return it to its previous position, so I removed it, pulled the wedge back as far as I could and secured it with a zip tie. No easy feat since the tensioner and my hands were covered with slippery Formula+! By the way, you really could put someone's eye out with that compression spring. Hoping the tensioner will reset itself back to the correct tension after a test ride. And of course it's been raining all afternoon so I can't test out my handiwork.