I had my bike in for inconsistent idling, that was taken care of...but upon further inspection, after a test ride the service manager noticed a different noise. They found that the compensator sprocket bolt was loose.(in Primary area) It is supposed to have 150 ft/lbs off torque and the bolt came off with 60ft/lbs. They did replace the bolt. All under warranty. but this is an FYI for those that may or may not have a need to know.

 

I had my come off last spring. I did mine myself and I cleaned the bolt up real good with a wire brush and brake cleaner, then used loc-tite primer (yes, primer...I have never heard of it and found it and it cost a fortune), a lot of loc-tite blue and torqued to 150lbs. Seems I have heard of this coming loose on a lot of people and can't understand why these are coming loose the way they have been on peoples bikes. This could cause a serious accident for someone. Glad you caught yours in time.

 

hope others will have theirs checked out

 

Interesting thread. I've never heard of this happening. They are supposed to get tighter as the bike breaks in. Same theory behind the clutch nut being reverse thread, That is ALSO supposed to get tighter. Just out of curiousity, Do you let the rear wheel do a lot of the bikes braking at lights? By that I mean Down shifting and letting the clutch out so the drivetrain slows the bike down rather than relying all on the bikes brakes. That may loosen up a compensating bolt. Just a thought.

 

Loose compensator nuts were not uncommon for 08 bikes, don't know about other years. Mine was loose enough to make a rattling noise at low RPM low load situations by around 4,000 miles. Re torqued it and haven't had any further problems, 38,000 miles now.

 

I do my share of engine braking, but 90% of the time I'm using the brakes.just had my rear pad replaced @ 13,500 miles

 

SeniorChief, It was a thought. I figure there's got to be some explanation for it. I never heard of that before. Usually it's the opposite, the Compensator nut feels like it takes over 250 Ft/Lbs of torque to break it loose. I've had to use a long chain wrench on the compensator and put an extension on the breaker bar that's on the compensator bolt when my airgun wouldn't break the nut loose.

The engine braking theory was the only thing that came to mind. I hear some guys coming up to lights with the motor at idle until they let the clutch out and the engine gets wound up to like 3,000 rpm's, courtesy of the primary chain turning up the motor to that rpm because the bike is in too low of a gear for the speed your traveling. do that enough times and it will probably start to crack that comp nut loose since the primary chain is driving the motor (as opposed to the motor driving the primary).

It's the same theory for why rear axle nuts are supposed to be on the left side. If the wheel bearings start to drag it will only cause the axle to get tighter into the axle nut rather than wind itself out of the nut.

 

I had the compensator nut come loose on an '05 Deluxe at around 3,000 miles. Pretty loud rattle at idle. The nut was so loose, I could turn it off with a ratchet, no breaker bar, without using the primary drive locking tool. As a note, there was revised torque spec. for the nut install.

Also, my service manual called for Red 262 high strength Loctite on a reused nut.

 

funny thing is they put on a nw bolt, torqued to 150ft lbs with loctite, then they filled the primary with SYN3 and I only had reg 20/50 eng oil, .....they never told me what caused it.......probably not torqued enough on the assembly line.......could there be a recall?

 

I have heard of a few 07-08s with the comp problem. Cause??? Engine braking, or how about lugging the engine?

jus thinkin

Bwana