http://www.box.net/public/88c5tbg9k0Link to torque procedure for my bike. http://www.box.net/public/d8x274q5zd HD info about problem and shim I used on mine. MINE IS AN 04 FXST. Need to check and see if there are any changes in componsator/primary on yours b4 using any of this info your self. Sorry can't help more. Hear is a tool to make to lock your 2 sprockets togeather to so you can torque it.

 

I made my tool to long and then trimed it to proper leingth.

 

Sorry to hear of your problem. This is a brand new bike. You have documented the problem since day one, and it's not fixed. Get your salesman and the owner of the dealership to sit down with you to talk this out. Ask who the factory regional rep is for this dealership and see if they can work this out. Polite and persistant will get it done but it's a royal pain. I also have done most of my own repairs. I say most because on my new hogs the warrenty is there to do it. In 05 I bought a new 1200 custom. It was one with the well known bad valve seals. Long story short they fixed it twice in 2000 mi. The third time at 2600 mi. it blew again. I was able to get full sticker price back toward trade in on another new bike. Dont void your warrenty by fixing it your self. There may be other related problems come up later. Alwayes keep the control on your side. This is a big investment which they must stand behind. I wish you the best of luck. By the way,wife and I now ride 07 flhc and so far so good, but I seem to keep my fingers crossed more now. Not like the old days when we could fix them with a couple tools and a match book cover!

 

It is good to document always and many states now have a "lemon law" in effect for all kinds of major purchases. Cars, scooters, boats, etc Read the law of your state for there is a time limit from time of purchase. It is thereto protect consumers. Florida's magic number is 3 times, the dealer won't volunteer the info probably to you.Knowing the law,what it covers and just mentioning it might get it fixed right anyway for I am sure the dealership doesn't want to get stuck with the bike.Maybe if your a regular to him and buy every few years he might swap you even out.

 

Sounds simular to my problem, exept my bike does not surge. In fact it runs great. The knock in my bike has been listened to, or felt buy no less than fiveHarley mechanics. Its been in the shop for a toal of 4 days on three occassions. It was diagnosed as a loose compensator by one mechanic who rode it, turns out the compensator wasn't loose,so he forced the auto tensioner up one notch while he was in there. That made a huge difference in the knockingfor about 50 miles, and by 250 miles it was back to knocking again. Heres the kicker though,it only knocks when it is hot, and the hotter it gets, the louder it gets. Problem is, no dealer will run it long enough to get the temp up to where the problem starts. This bike will run fairly quite all day on a 60 degree day, but take it out on a day when the temps are in the 80's, and you would think its about to throw a rod. It also ismuch worse at light throttle and constant speed, say25-30 mph in 2nd gear, in fact the only way to make it stop knocking is to load the drive train, either by getting on it, or lugging it.I'm coming to the conclusion that this "noise" is tied to the compensator somehow. It hasn't gotten any worse in 6-700 miles since the last trip to the dealers, so if it were something "bad" in the lower end, I feelit would keep getting worse. I went out today and bought a service manual, and I'm thinking of taking matters into my own hands. The dealer has basically left me feeling likethe only way they will dig any deeper, is if a major component fails. I.E. If they hear an abnormal noise/vibration, they will check the obvious, if that doesn't do it, your only option is to wait for something to fail.2300 miles so far, and I don't know how much more I can take.

 

I have been doing some research on this compensator thing and from what I understand thecompensator can still be loose even if the fastener is tight, giving a false reading with the torque wrench due to the fastener itself bottoming out. I have also heard that the compensator can be defective and the only way to tell is by replacing it with a new one to see if it stops the knocking noise. The knock and surge in my bike is getting really bad especially if I try to hold a steady speed and the noise in 5th. gear just makesit worse. And the hotter the bike gets the louder the noise gets. I have friends who have the same bike and they have no noises.This all is very annoying and not what I expected from a high dollar bike.

 

Well, I've rode two of these "B" motor bikes in the last week, and niether Knocks at all. I'd never ridden anything but non counter balanced motors before, so at first I was suspisious of the balancers. After reading the manual tonight, I don't think its that at all. It almost has to be the compensator, but the drawing of it in the manual isn't that clear. Anyone know if the thing has springs in it? If it does, the manual doesn't show them. Looks sort of like the helix in a snowmobile secondary clutch, IE a sprocket that rides onthree ramps. I got to believe the dam things got springs in it somewhere though. And if it has wave springs that keep tension on the rampsto sprocket contact points,and they arebad or broken, I'd bet it would Knock. It looks like I'm going to have to find out myself. I'd really like to know what you find out Easy Crossing.

 

All I know is the rattle or knocking noise is coming from the primary housing near the compensator and it doesn't make noise untilI run the engine for a few blocks or so. I have several friends with this model bike and none of them make this type of noise. What makes it bad the dealers I've been to don't want to pursue the noise any further, and from what I've read on this siteand several others thats typical for Harley's service. I've even been told by some of the dealers that they don't hear anything,they would have to be totallydef not to hear this noise. I guess the easiest way to fix it is to get the 08 manual and fix the bike myself before something really gets damaged, if not already.

 

I dug this up. Hope it helps explain how it works.

 

Tell them to take it on a 25 mile minimum ride and set your trip to zero when you get there.

You could bight the bullet and pay for them to replace the compensator, maybe make a deal "if it works then they pay if not you pay...?"

I read on another thread that someone proved the bike had a problem by having a portable vibration meter. It takes some sort of hard "proof" (besides the obvious) to get them to do anything

I dropped my bike off with an active engine trouble code (should have checked months ago). This is the 4th time I have asked them to look at the rough idle andhigh vibs. Hoping with the code in the bike I will not get a "it's normal" kick in the pants.....[:'(].