I've seen this topic a bunch of times, but before I start pulling things apart or paying someone else to pull things apart.............I thought I'd ask.

2005 Electra-Glide Classic. I was out a two weekends ago and rode about 260 miles. No issues the whole ride. No noises that I could here while wearing a helmet and moving at road speeds.

Got home, parked in the driveway, showered and was going to dinner with the wife and kids. Started the bike to move it into the garage and could hear a faint sound almost like something clanking and rubbing against the primary cover all at the same time. Not too loud but I could hear it over idle (stock pipes).

I have a service manual and dug into it as well as did a little research. My thoughts are:

1. Compensator sprocket/nut
b. Rotor/Stator issue.

Doesn't sound like a primary chain issue.

Didn't do anything last week because the Pope's visit had me at work for 6 days straight. Did look at the service manual and am pretty sure I could do it myself. Not sure if I want to waste a riding day the way my schedule is until first snowfall.

Called two local shops. One indicated that "Oh, that usually involves parts and a lot of labor". The second one said, "Yeah, that happens. If that's what it is? No big deal. Parts and about 3 hours shop time"

So a few questions:

It's a 2005 with about 28K miles. How likely is it that it's Compensator Sprocket/nut related.

If it is, how complicated of a fix is and roughly what should I expect to pay?

I've got other bikes to ride and would rather just let the shop handle it.

 

2005 should have a decent comp, Baker is making their new comps based on your style comp. Might be a primary chain tensioner issue.

Really need to pull the primary cover to have a good look(drain prim fluid first). If you find something, It should not be hard to replace with new/better parts using your Service Manual. A ton of very smart people here too that can help - especially if you can post some pics of what you find.

 

Does it still have the 38 amp rotor? If so, and you're in there checking on things, put in the 45 amp upgrade from HD or aftermarket. The below pic shows a rotor from a 2005 SE Ultra (on the right) that had some rotor problems (see where the teeth are fubar) and the new one that went in (on the left).

 

Agree pulling the outer primary cover and inspecting chain adjustment, rotor fitment and torque on compensator nut.

The early (pre '07) compensators have a history of backing off because factory tolerances can be off and the comp nut can be too long, so while the required torque is applied to the nut, the required clamping pressure to hold the required torque and the nut will loosen. The MoCo offers shims to correct the problem but before the shims were offered, the fix was to trim .030" off the comp nut. The sketch attached will illustrate the point. The early comp is pretty much bullet proof with exception of the nut issue. At 28K miles the comp should be in fine shape.

 

It's an easy job if you just take it slow and *READ* everything and *LOOK* at everything carefully (that's not meant to 'scare' you, it just means that's the secret to not screwing up even an easy job by a simple, stupid mistake like getting in a hurry or misreading something).

 

Thanks,

I had a chance to stop at the dealer yesterday. Scheduled a service, a new back tire and to check out the noise. The service guy talked about a few possible issues, all relatively inexpensive.

I normally wouldn't shy away from tackling this myself except for the fact that I have so little time right now and I'd rather not spend it poking around in the primary for the first time.

Plus, I'd like to check the place out. Closest dealer to me, under new management, and I may be looking for some other work in the near future.

I did make a list of tools I'm going to need to aquire in the near future.

 

Picked my bike up yesterday after a service, new tire and getting the mystery noise fixed.


Turns out it was the bearing in the inner primary case, behind the clutch. Looked at the service manual like 4 times and totally missed that as a possibility. Just about $300 parts and labor.