Best and worst years for compensators?
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Road Captain
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 668
Likes: 72
From: Wisconsin
Best and worst years for compensators?
Have read many threads on this subject. Are the stock compensators all junk? Are some years better than others? Are the 3rd party comps much better or just not stock? I have a 2011 Limited, Miles 40K. Still looks fine. Little wear? Was going to replace it not sure I should bother. To Baker or not? What years really had trouble? thanks
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,459
Likes: 2,893
From: Oklahoma
Any 96 or 103 before 2011 had the weak comp from the factory. Any 88 ci or earlier was good provided it is a stock engine. '11 through 13 were the various inadequate fix attempts to get oil into the hub area. The current version with the little plastic oil collector cup seems to be the end design and is working well for most. Even with that one, there seemed to be a problem with spring quality control and some spring packs were weak or soft and led to noisy operation. I installed the original design SE comp on an 08 Road King 96 ci engine and got around 70,000 miles out of it. It eventually got noisy and when I took it apart, the compensator pieces had little wear, it was the crankshaft extension piece which showed the wear, the splines were about half way worn through. I now have the current version on my bike but have only run a couple of thousand miles so far, and it seems fine. Because of the spring QC problem in the new comps (may have been cured by now) I saved the springs from the old comp and added the smallest one to the new spring pack as a shim so I could be sure I wouldn't have to do it later. If your current one is smooth and quiet, don't worry about it. If or when you replace your current comp, you have an advantage. You won't need to replace your rotor as you already have the one that works with the belleville springs. Some people have eliminated the comp and gone to a solid sprocket and are happy. Others have gone with the Baker unit with some mixed results. The Baker unit is about $100 more expensive than the Harley version. The current Harley version has been in use since 2014 and most of the problems have been spring related, not lubrication problems. Harley replaced quite a few under warranty that had become noisy and discovered the spring problem and have since gone to adding shims to the spring pack to tighten things up again. The current design seems adequate for the job now.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,272
Likes: 443
From: SETx
My ‘13 is around 45K miles and sometimes I think I hear it on startup and shutdown and other times I don’t. When it’s time for mine to be swapped, I’ll put an eliminator in it and roll on. I get the purpose of the compensator but none of my old bikes had them and they’ve gone down the road for decades upon decades just dandy.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
It's a TC96 and later problem, doesn't involve earlier big twins as they used a different design. For some reason the MoCo went to a larger diameter sprocket for the comp, which is not a bad thing, and yet they messed up with the design or the materials used. The older comps work just fine on much bigger and more powerful engines, so it is mystery why they changed.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,903
Likes: 1,422
From: Lost
I’m not mechanically inclined or know anything about motorcycle except ride it. I hear some springy noise coming from motor when I first start up. It stays there for a min and then it goes away. Is that what you guys are talking about? My bike is 2016 SG 31,000 miles.
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Road Master
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 953
Likes: 954
From: Daytona Beach
Mine failed on my 96TC at 18,000 miles. Springs failed.
Went to the Baker unit with new rotor. Also got rid of the HD ratcheting
tensioner. Replaced it with a SHB hydraulic unit.
It's been 2000 miles so far and is working good.
Forgot to mention. My bike is a 09'.
Went to the Baker unit with new rotor. Also got rid of the HD ratcheting
tensioner. Replaced it with a SHB hydraulic unit.
It's been 2000 miles so far and is working good.
Forgot to mention. My bike is a 09'.
Last edited by Stinger1; Jul 7, 2019 at 10:56 AM. Reason: add text
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,158
Likes: 11,247
From: San Diego, CA
It's a TC96 and later problem, doesn't involve earlier big twins as they used a different design. For some reason the MoCo went to a larger diameter sprocket for the comp, which is not a bad thing, and yet they messed up with the design or the materials used. The older comps work just fine on much bigger and more powerful engines, so it is mystery why they changed.
Harley switched to a new style compensator in 2006, first in the Dyna bikes. It was part #40296-06. It was different from the shovel head/ EVO/ early TC88 compensators. It had many problems. The Shovel head/ EVO/ early TC88 compensators were pretty much trouble-free in comparison.
They upgraded that initial compensator in 2007. The part was now #40296-06A. This was first redesign of the problematic compensators. There were many reports of compensator problems and failures with this one too........
They changed the OEM compensator, in 2011. It was now part #83935-09A. This was called the Screamin Eagle compensator and was an option, prior to 2011. It was much better than its predecessor, but still had reported issues and failures..
They went with an upgraded compensator again, in 2014. It was changed to part #42200064A. It became OEM issue on the '14+ bikes. That is the compensator that uses a deflector, to direct oil into the splines of the compensator. This version has proven to be the most reliable of the compensators, since they “upgraded” from the shovel head / EVO / early TC88 style compensator in 2006…
The 2014+ bikes have the defector built-in to the primary cover. If you want to add the newest compensator to an '07-'13 bike, you will need to glue the included deflector into the inside of your OEM primary cover, or buy a '14+ primary cover (at a cost of about $200).
They changed the compensator again, in '17, for the M8 engine bikes..... not sure if that was a redesign of the '14, or an entirely new concept & design ...
Last edited by hattitude; Jul 7, 2019 at 11:14 AM.
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 651
Likes: 72
From: Harleysville, PA
Harley switched to a new style compensator in 2006, first in the Dyna bikes. It was part #40296-06. It was different from the shovel head/ EVO/ early TC88 compensators. It had many problems. The Shovel head/ EVO/ early TC88 compensators were pretty much trouble-free in comparison.
They upgraded that initial compensator in 2007. The part was now #40296-06A. This was first redesign of the problematic compensators. There were many reports of compensator problems and failures with this one too........
They changed the OEM compensator, in 2011. It was now part #83935-09A. This was called the Screamin Eagle compensator and was an option, prior to 2011. It was much better than its predecessor, but still had reported issues and failures..
They went with an upgraded compensator again, in 2014. It was changed to part #42200064A. It became OEM issue on the '14+ bikes. That is the compensator that uses a deflector, to direct oil into the splines of the compensator. This version has proven to be the most reliable of the compensators, since they upgraded from the shovel head / EVO / early TC88 style compensator in 2006
The 2014+ bikes have the defector built-in to the primary cover. If you want to add the newest compensator to an '07-'13 bike, you will need to glue the included deflector into the inside of your OEM primary cover, or buy a '14+ primary cover (at a cost of about $200).
They changed the compensator again, in '17, for the M8 engine bikes..... not sure if that was a redesign of the '14, or an entirely new concept & design ...
It's a shame Harley doesn't offer oil deflector over the counter. Looks like I'll wait for my compensator to go bad, maybe by then Harley will have this compensator issue solved 100% .lol.
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