What are the tell tell symtoms of a bad compensator? What does the compensator do?

 

remove primary and close inspection. what does it do? it smooths out the driveline whip saw effect from a large V twin at the end of the crankshaft as the power is supplied to the chain drive going to your clutch. stock factory compensators are built to handle stock engines. HD didnt put a super duty one in at assembly for your 100 HP build later on.

 

Some of the symptoms are or sounds like rocks in the primary when at idle, sounds like a gun going off when starting, and viberation at certain rpm. Just name a few, at least what mine is doing. I go in next week to have replaced, as soon as it comes in.

 

My 09 Ultra turns over, turns over, turns over, then a "bang" and then starts. Is that normal or bad?

 

My stock compensator couldn't handle my stock motor and came apart at just shy of 25,000 miles. I got damn lucky I got it to the dealer when I did, as it was at the point of catastrophic failure.

The symptoms were startup noise, a rattle around 3,000rpm, excessive driveline lash, and terrible clutch engagement from a standstill. The dealer was kind enough to replace it with the S/E part under warranty.

 

I have heard a few guys taking their bike in and complaining about the compensator and some dealers are just swapping them with the SE without even checking if it needs replaced