I feel like starting a debate tonight so here we go… Seems like every day someone is on the forum talking about compensator failure. Everyone agrees that the harley compensator design needs improvements. Unfortunately, we can't place all the blame on the MOCO for the high volume of compensator failures…. Harley owners need to realize that their driving habits also contribute to the problem and that LUGGING the engine is a major contributing factor to compensator failure.

Harley gave us what we wanted. We wanted bigger engines that are still based on a 100 year old design and we got them. The torque production of these larger engines allow us cruise effortlessly at low RPMs but just because we CAN does not mean we should.

Cruising at low RPM is LUGGING and allot of us do it. People cruise around at 2000 rpm (or less) thinking that its fine but it places a tremendous amount of stress on the engine. During each revolution of the engine, force is transmitted through the compensator. This forces rocks you comp back and forth and will eventually wear it out. The Inertia created by cruising at higher RPMs relieves a lot of this stress. You should be cruising above 2500 at highway speeds in 5th and 6th gear and above 2000 RPM in the lower gears.

I had this conversation with a buddy of mine and he tried to compair a Harley to a diesel truck. Harley's do have a bore and stroke that is comparable to diesel truck engine and diesel trucks cruse at lower RPMS with no issues. They also have 4, 6 or 8 cylinders/pistons that are arranged in firing orders that apply more consistent force to the crank throughout 360 degrees of rotation. AND.. They have very stout 1 piece crank. Not a pressed together unit…

 

I agree with just about everything you said but the newer stlye comps prior to 2014 have an oiling problem plain and simple. The guys that invented the CompenSaver figured it out and produced a solution that HD pretty much copied in 2014 and now we have oiling trays in all the new Harlies, and so far the wear and tear from lack of oiling appear to be gone.

I grew up on dirt bikes and once I got my Harley I never liked hanging out below 3000 rpms. Yet after checking my comp a couple of times, I could see the wear and tear from a lack of oiling - compensator spokes chewed up, all that red burnt oil looking crap, scratched up sproket retainer, etc.

Anyway now I have the Baker, hoping for the best...

 

Have you had a chance to see how the baker is doing? I want to get one of those setups from baker, just waiting to see if they are good or not. I have the baker altitude chain adjuster but have not installed it yet.

 

Sorry, my Baker comp has about 10 miles on it - hardly enough to even mention. I can tell you that I had a very positive experience with Mark at Baker, he has been very responsive - I had to get my motor extension shaft milled down a bit to get my chain alignment into spec and Baker did a great job doing that for me. I don't think this has to be done very often, might be from me installing an aftermarket clutch basket.

 

I love my Baker Comp. I got mine after the issues and the alignment was in spec right out of the box.
I never lugged my bike but it had a really loud clunk from the day I drove it out of the lot. It was noisy on all shifts.
At 15,000 miles I had lots of drivetrain slack and vibration. When I tore it down it had the red residue stuff worn and shiny ramps.
When I drop it in gear now I have way less clunk, smooth shifts, no slack and no vibration.
Due to rainy weather I only have managed 500 miles but I am still smiling.

 

There were virtually no compensator failures on Big Twins prior to 2006 (Dyna) and 2007 (everything else.) That's when Harley changed what was the proven bulletproof design to what you newer guys are running today.

My '00 compensator is still the original now at 154,000 miles. (The new Baker replacement looks remarkably similar to mine.)

 

Looks similar to yours because they designed/improved upon a good foundation of the early style comps.

I'm just not sure what "engineer" at Harley decided that the comps needed to be redesigned. Just like the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" or in their case f$&k it up.

 

Agreed, the pre 2006 comps don't fail. So why would HD change a successful 25 tooth design to the current larger 34 tooth design. My assumption is that the increased torque production of the 96-110ci engines along with the addition of a 6th gear required additional dampening because the changed final drive ratio placed more load on the engine while cruising in 6th gear. The old comp design could clearly take the abuse but could it provide enough dampening to protect the power train.

My 2007 Softail has 40,000 miles on it (30,000 since I added the supercharger) and Im still running the stock comp. It has handled over 150lbs of torque for the last 30,000 miles. No lugging… No problems. I do however change gears later than most people. I will not even consider changing into 6th gear unless I'm over 3000 rpm. I sure my stock comp will fail sooner or later and when it does I'll upgrade.

 

My comp never really "failed", it was just getting chewed up from a lack of oiling. There was metal waste everytime I removed the drain bolt. Not a big fan of metal debris running around in clutch plates and bearing so I decided to swap it out. Here is a pic of my old compensator sprocket with chewed up spokes and the sprocket retainer all scratched up - another note is that these parts have been cleaned up from most of the burnt brown residue:

 

Soooooo, what is your point?