I am wondering what kind of bad experiences people are having with the auto tension-er on their M8, if any. I notice that a lot of the after market manual adjusters are for the twin cam engines and screaming eagle does not list one for the M8 that I can find. I am seeing some articles where there have been over tightening issues. Opinions ?

 

There have been a couple of threads here, and for the most part, there have not been many reported issues.

Your post is timely for me, and I recently developed a howl, and found that my chain is indeed tighter than spec. I am going to install the Baker Attitude manual adjuster in mine. I ordered it a while ago, and it just arrived.

Again, by and large, I have not seen reports of any other issues, save maybe one poster here who developed the same noise, and went with the Baker. I could totally reset my auto adjuster, and likely be just fine. I have no problem going with the Baler manual adj, and checking tension on a periodic basis for peace of mind.

I would love to see more feedbacl

 

I've lately experienced a distinctive rattle on cold starts in the morning,not every time but it's disturbing when it happens.
I'm sure it's coming from the primary,it only lasts for a second but it bothers me when it does it.

 

I have a stock 107 but it looks like your bike has some substantial up grades. My bike has 2,800 miles on it and I have bought the stuff to go in there and look to see if it has over tightened, I hope it has not. After reading and looking at this issue I thought it was worth looking into. After looking at the different makes of manual adjusters I liked the design of the baker the best and if I am having the tightening issue this will be the one I buy. I was at the dealer today and asked if they had a Screamin Eagle manual and all they make is the auto adjuster for the M8. I am not having any issues that I know of but will find out when I look. I will report back with my results. What is the spec. for the chain play and I am curious as to the miles you have on the bike?

 

I changed my mind about pulling the primary cover and fooling around with the auto chain tension-er, so I returned the gasket. Maybe some other day.

 

So, I do have experience with this issue. I bought a new RG in 15. It developed a whine when de- celerating. I could feel the chain pulling. I removed the cover and sure enough the chain was tighter than a drum head. I installed the Baker attitude adjuster and the problem went away. I bought a new RG in 20. and have not had the same issue. I am certain I would feel it if it happens again but I have not pulled the primary to check. I have seen other threads where most feel the problem is solved with the M8. I am at 25K with the new bike and very happy with it.

 

What are you running in the primary? For fluid? My 2020 up to 30k has been serviced by dealership. Had an extended service plan. It’s over. Going with Formula plus as I know the dealership used Syn3 in all 3.

Just think what’s worked for too many folks is a no brainer. Same with Syn3, it’s worked for many. The occasional horror stories and then using some expensive aftermarket stuff is not enough to sway me. I have done a 5k since I took over and I use Valvoline VR-1 Synthetic, the blue stuff. Two earls, the Valvoline has always been my choice for engines.

I would think the tensioner “issue” is actually a non issue as there’s only been an occasional post. For every one post of something’s gone sideways, there’s thousands that are chugging along.

I get an occasional rebuttal to my belief that these newer bikes are pretty reliable. They’re not the twinkie or AMF era machines. EVO motor gets a pass. (Wink, wink). I would ride until something actually goes sideways. My money is you’re only going to experience what you have a bike for, miles of smiles.

 

My 17 RK is stock, while the chain was on the tighter side when I opened it for the vent install you have to keep in mind the adjuster is also spring loaded, chain had plenty of flex when I put the finger test to it. That said I don't have any mods aside from a Ventilator AC and fuel moto slip-ons and I just ride it, she doesn't get hotdogged like the shovel does.

Believe in this type scenario the stock adjuster works as it should, bump up the power mods and use it maybe then a solid adjuster would warranted.

 

I had noise from the primary (2018 RG Stage 2) and thought the chain was too tight. But as TZBiker said, the M8 auto chain adjusters have a spring under the shoe that allows more slack beyond what the auto adjuster provides to maintain the proper adjustment. To check the slack properly, you do have to give the chain a good push to compress the spring in order to know the amount of slack you have. Once the slack is correct, I use a long skinny screw driver to check for slack through the derby cover, but can not compress the spring that way.

In an effort to rid the noise, I installed the Baker Armored adjuster and the neutral to first was smoother and neutral was easier to find. But it was noisy even after 500 miles. Also, beware that making the adjustment can be tricky because you need to find all the tight spots in the chain (there is more than one) to adjust the chain slack. When I made the adjustment with the Baker, I rotated the engine checking for slack every few inches until I found the tightest spot (ended up with 5 locations). I also marked the tight spots on the chain with Sharpie so I knew where each location was. In almost any situation, you want the chain more on the lose side than tight. And remember that the chain tightens up when hot and adjustments are made cold.

Ultimately, because of noise I removed the Baker and put a new HD auto adjuster in along with some Formula + and things are quiet now. I also run 85w-140 gear oil in the trans. Shifts and neutral are fairly good with the "snick" noise from neutral to first and all other shifts as well. When hot, if I rush to shift into first, I still get more noise than I would like, but these do not have synchronizers. If the outer primary had an inspection cover I might have left the Baker in, but it doesn't. Still have the Baker adjuster though.

I believe Syn or other 20w-50 oils are too thin for a primary or trans. I suspect HD used that to help meet EPA emissions standards because less viscosity means less resistance and better MPG even if it is very slight.

Paul

 

Think SYN 20-50 would be a pain in the *** with the early years and the transfer issues they had, why I did the vent and went to Redline in the trans. recently. Don't know if it will really stop it but has to help slow it till I decide to pull it apart and try Stonecold's fix.