That's exactly why it's different thicknesses. Yep, OP, you gotta line up the sprockets, take a measurement behind the compensator, and get the correct spacer.

 

You follow the procedure in your Factory Service Manual.

 

Turns out it was an assembly error on my part. When I took it apart, I put the compensator parts all together, and forgot they weren't in the correct order that they came apart when I reassembled. I was so focused on what I didn't have, I forgot to check the order of the parts in the exploded view. Everything was there, just not placed correctly. Primary has now been reassembled, retorqued, and chain tension set. Now to sort the rest of it out... Thanks for your help, everyone!

 

Glad you got it figured out, now get out there and ride that Evo......

 

I just went through something similar to where you're at (thread here). Here's a few things I picked up thanks to Schex3x that aren't immediately obvious from the parts diagrams:

1) There is what I would call a "spacer" and then there are what I would call "shims". The spacer is noticeably bigger than the shims. It's like 2.5" in diameter and something like 0.200" thick. The spacer is #14 on this diagram:



2) The shims are way smaller than the spacer. The shims are what come in various thicknesses, which is what you use to adjust the alignment of the primary chain. Here is one of the shims:



The shims are listed as #8 on this diagram:



And as you noted, are available in a variety of thicknesses.

The FSM has the procedure for checking the primary chain alignment. It's not super-critical (the spec is 0.030" tolerance from front to back).

So, to answer your question ("How do I determine which one I need?"), my advice is to start with the assumption that it was correct before you started. Get everything put back to where it was, then measure the chain alignment. If it's in-spec, then you're golden. If it's not, then you'll know what shims you need.

 

When you do go to torque the nut, "DO NO USE AN IMPACT" the dead blows of the impact can weeken the magnets on the rotor.... Causing your charging system to be less effective.

 

0maha, great info, thanks for sharing it.
Just to avoid any terminology confusion, Harley calls em both spacers.

 

Exactly. Which is where my initial confusion came from. From the parts diagrams, you'd never know that they are very different things.