once warmed up and ridden for a bit the blackline makes a noise.
at about 60mph in sixth gear and just enough throttle to maintain, i hear what sounds to me like the primary chain slapping. like the chain is alternately loose/tight when not accelerating or decelerating. it is gone if i accelerate or decelerate at all. it will also do it in other gears at lower speeds.
though likely unrelated, the secondary is riding against the outside edge of the rear pulley.

anything to be concerned with? if it is the primary chain slapping, isn't the auto-adjuster supposed to take care of that?

 

60 is too slow to be in 6th gear.

drew

 

Don't mind the Dr. I suspect that 60 is just way to slow for him in any gear.

IMHO you should not be hearing any primary noise at 60 in 6th. That's kinda low in the Engine RPM range, which is why the Dr. made his comment; but it's not really lugging the engine either . . . . as long as you're not trying to climb a steep hill.

In my personal experience, the rear drive belt can make all sorts of weird noises if it isn't adjusted properly. A miss-adjusted rear drive belt can sound for all the world like it's coming right from the Primary. That said, it's a pretty easy task to remove and replace the Primary cover just to take a look-see if that would put you mind at ease.

Use HD Tool # J00089 to check the rear drive belt tension. I had all sorts of noises that were coming from mine until I adjusted it correctly using the tool Harley recommends (what a shock!). They're about $25 on eBay.

 

thanks, blue.

it never occured to me that it could be the drive belt. i will be looking in to the tension while i do my 1000 mile service in a day or two.

it certainly makes more sense than the primary anyways as it is supposed to be self adjusting.

thanks again.

 

Mine has been making noise like you are describing. I had it at the dealer for maintenance and had them adjust the belt tension but still making the noise. I finally reached behind my left passenger peg and I could feel my belt slapping against the upper belt guard. I haven't had a chance to work on it yet.

 

i run 60 mph in 6th gr all the time.. no noise in 6, 5th gr is another story..

 

Just to second what Drew said about running in 6th at less than 65 is not recommended by HD due to the new cranks in the 96. The word is it can put too much pressure on the crank. My brother already had a problem with his after 1000 miles...Not good...He's not a happy boy...HD rebuilt it 3 times, the last time with Screaming Eagle parts to finally solve his problem...Ride safe.

 

I don't know if you ever figured yours out but I got rid of mine by pulling the upper belt guard out away from the belt. Been riding it for 2 days and no more slap. I think that my wife may have been pushing it with her foot. If yours is still under warranty, I would just take it in.

 

My 2007 Owner's Manual clearly states that 55 mph is the minimum recommended speed to be in 6th gear. Where did you read that H-D does not recommend this any longer? I would like to know when they changed their recommendation.

 

I know this is an old thread but I just got back from a 1200 mile trip and my 07 FLHX does the same thing the OP is describing. After searching here I was thinking the compensator might be going bad ar 13000 miles as I do get a bang kind of sound at start up. I can cruise any gear 4th, 5th,or 6th at exactly 2000 rpms when the bike is hot and feel/hear what feels like primary chain slapping. If I speed up or shift the noise goes away. Just wondering if there is more insight since this post was started.