I bought my 09 FLHT about 4 months ago. My first Harley. I thought the shotgun clunk was just a charactistic of these bikes. Appearently not.

Anyway stopped by the dealer this morning to check on teh status of my warrenty. I have unlimited mileage until 4/12.

The service manager says that I can upgrade to the SE compensater for just the cost difference in parts if they replace it under warrenty.

He says I will have to schedule a shop visit so they can see if there is a problem before they do any warrenty work.

Usually 3 out of 4 times it sounds like Ive been shot when I hit the start button. We took a ride today and made a few stops. Would'nt you know it, as smooth and quiet on startup as it can be.

There is a problem, so what do I do to show the dealer that there is a problem. I dont want them to think that Im trying to get something I shouldnt. It seems odd to me that the compensater isnt showing its *** all of a sudden.

 

I'll give you a bump.
It looks like a lot of folks are getting it taken care of under warrenty. I would tell the dealer about the symtoms you have had and ask them to take a look at the compensator. It can't hurt to ask. I may help if down the road you have a problem you have it on record.

 

It doesn't really sound like there is a problem though if it just makes that sound at start up. I think the issue people were having was when it started sounding like marbles rolling around in there at idle. Although I'll eventually upgrade to the SE Comp the bike starts (with the bang) and rides just fine.

 

I just had the stator replaced on my 07 Road Glide (32,000 miles) under ESP warranty for an oil leak at the plug. I asked them to carefully look over the compensator for any wear and also to check the starter & ring gear for damage because I get a lot of bang/ kickback / sneeze starts when bike is hot.

I was told all looked good and they put it back together. Seems to me they could have made a few extra bucks if they could justify the replacement so I believe them when they say it was OK.

Dont be surprised if they cant find any damage, Ive heard on here that some still get the same issues after upgrading to the SE comp.

 

I was getting the "bang" for the first couple of thousand miles on my bike. Finally one day I got tired of it and pulled the primary cover off, loosened the nut and re-torged it. Stopped the noise immediately. You better weigh more than 100 pounds if you torque it or you will have to stand on a cheater bar. That puppy is tight.

 

Had this same conversation with my service manager today. They are unable to hear the noises I hear when the bike is warm.

They have had it for three weeks and I want it back! I told them I don't want it down again when the weather gets better. I was told they had to send the defective part(s) to the MOCO for testing. We agreed that they would replace the Comp and when the Comp is sent back for testing I would pay for the part and labor (500) if it test good, other wise it is covered under warranty.

Good Luck,

Rick

 

I've had mine replaced once already with the OEM comp., before all the SE comp. started.The new one made the same noise as the old one. Big bang when starting and rocks in the primary. Took it back last week to get it checked out again. They MOCO wouldn't ok it a second time, but they would work something out. They changed it out with the SE comp. and didn't charge for any labor. So it cost me 249. No more big bang or rocks in the primary. I'm a happy camper now.

 

They tend to make the banging noise on hot days with a hot motor and is called "kickback". To many times of kickback will eventually lead to replacing the starter drive gear and or ring gear on the clutch hub.

 

Well, here's the dumb question for the day ...

I was smart enough to do my own SE compensator upgrade to get rid of the BANG on start-up that even I intuitively knew couldn't be good, but I'm not smart enough to know just how it all comes together.

For instance, the SE compensator not only smoothed out start-up, but now I also don't get any grinding noise when I thumb the starter when idling at a red light to trigger it.

Why is this? Or in other words, just how does the SE compensator positively affecting the starter?

The shop manual doesn't really explain it for me.

Thanks on behalf of all the other pseudo wrenches here who know just enough to be dangerous!