The Dark SideFor those members running "Car Tires" on their scoots. This is for their discussion only and not a place for "non dark siders" to mouth off about their negative opinions of this idea!
I've been running a DS tire on my 2016 RGU since the original Dunlop wore out. I have 67K miles on the bike now and just put the third DS tire on it.
Over the past year now, I have had to replace the compensator three times. Harley shops are telling me the compensator is being damaged because of the car tire. They can't say why other than it may be due to excessive road grip.
Anybody else having problems with their compensator while running a DS tire?
So the dealer is trying to tell you that there is excessive play going on that is damaging the comp and that if you had a MC tire on the bike the tire would slip enough to offset the freeplay.
That is I am hearing. That is total rubbish. Now if you are hard on throttle ( bouncing from nothing to getting on it hard) that can slap it harder and if there is any excess play then the comp could start chewing itself up. But for normal riding? no way.
I have almost 40,000 miles riding on the dark side with no compensator issues.
On the bright side, don't feel bad about them blaming your car tire for your compensator issues. At least they are both parts of the drive train.
My EX dealer actually told me that my car tire was causing my intermittent stereo issues!
I have never understood this Compensator thing. My 07 it was posted all over the net it would fall apart soon as I drove away form the dealer. 75,000 miles when I traded it 85 last I saw it still going strong. The net said the same thing about the 2011,2013.2016 and even my 2017 . never an issue with any of them. Also not one person I know personally has ever had a compensator fail. There has to be a reason. HD dealer installed the car tire on mine. Not the first one they ever did, they see no issues with it.
You must remember you running DS means the shop doesn't get your tire sales. All of us can only speak of our experiences , here's mine. I started running a CT in 2005 on a VN2000 Kawasaki then in 2012 on my 12 Limited which I now have over 80,000 miles on. In our local group we have half dozen on CT's which all of whom pull trailers also. Myself and all the others have installed the new 64000422 centrifugally lubed type usually in the 20,000 range and now have over 50 on the new type. Here is what we have done to extend the comp life, we have all polished the spokes and ramps of the comp, this promotes a much smoother operation than the unfinished cast surfaces which also will eliminate almost all the metal flakes in the primary oil, which means less wear on seals and stator. Second, under no circumstances lug the engine on a pull ( below 2500) , this will kill the comp. Never let the engine below 2500rpm, shift from 3500-4500 and cruise no lower than 2500-3000. All of our comps in 50,000+ miles have shown no wear at all, none ! Here's the analogy, when you are riding a bicycle and you're in a gear that is too high you need a tremendous amount of pressure on the pedals, almost to the point of bending them seemingly. Then you select a lower gear which lessons the pressure and increases the rpm , maintaining the same speed , all the stress in your legs and on the pedals, ( crank/comp) suddenly disappears. Every engine component will thank you for running at the higher rpm's and you will find the bike running easier , stronger and your comp problems will all but disappear unless you are running big HP, in that case just go solid. We don't have any more comp problems , we are all stage 3 and have pulled trailers two up all over the USA and Canada, and up all the elevation rides. To seal the deal I'm running double dark pushing a steam roller up the road, by all reasonable and educated opinions we should be dead and the bike inoperable ! Go figure ! Your comp problems aren't being caused by your tire choices !
Last edited by rlh7677; 05-02-2019 at 09:53 PM.
Reason: add info
04-30-2019, 08:27 AM
Compensator Damage from DS Tire
