So, had my original compensator replaced on my 2010 FLHTK last December. Read all the threads about the stock unit and decided to replace it before the inevitable failure. Guesse what, less than a year later the SE comp failed! My bike was in the dealer for new braided brake lines and as the tech was getting ready for the test ride he pulls the bike over, jumps off and says your compensator is bad! It sure seemed fine when I brought it in! No noise or clunking at all. I listen to the bike after he restarts it and puts it into gear and sure enough it's grinding! First question I get is are you running redline or amsol in the primary? Well yes, I run and have always run redline. Best oil on the market as far as I am concerned. The dealer claims that both redline and amsol is a known problem for Harley compensators. I have a hard time believing this is the case. Anyone else having a compensator issue running either one of these oils? Sure seems like a design flaw in the compensator more so than an oil issue! By the way, two springs were bad in the compensator when they pulled it apart.

 

I'll be following with interest as a new SE comp is on my shelf and I have always run Amsoil in the primary

 

I swapped mine out last year and now have about 10K on the SE comp. Using Formula+ and no issues at all.

 

interested

 

Maybe...the dealership (1) didn't install correctly, or (2) put a used/faulty SE comp in your ride...?? The oil type is N/A - I'd recommend addressing this with the Service Manager...they should warranty a major component like this when it fails under 1-yr of use...JMO.

 

My original SE Comp went bad.

Stock SE Syn. oil from the factory and still use it.

Knock on wood, all is good with my scoot!

I call BS on the dealer about the oil debate.

Good Luck!

YB

 

I just had a SE Compensator go bad and replaced under ESP on my 2011 FLHTCU.... and I run RedLine in all 3 holes. However, I do not believe that RedLine oil caused the problem. I think a crap design and cheap out sourced parts by HD caused the problem.

 

It happens some times that a person who repairs mechanical devices for a living will occasionally jump to nonlogical conclusions based upon their own limited experience. Unless this guy replaced compensators all day long, every day of the week and had complete data history available for all machines, I doubt if he was qualified to suggest that it was a particular brand of oil that caused the failure. Instead of just saying "Hell, I don't know why it failed' most will try to offer some sort of explanation which usually has no basis whatsoever. That is just life.
Besides all that, **** breaks and never leaves a note saying why.

 

In ancient days before HD redesigned the stock Comp in 07, many riders used 10-40 or 20-50 dino motor oil in the primary... I used GTX 20-50 for years, and Comp failure was a rare occasion. So now we use special blends and/or Synth oils that are far better than the old stuff and people say its the oil that makes the Comp go bad ?

My old 98 FLHT, which I sold to a friend in '06 is still running w/ the original Comp and its got over 100k miles on it.

In my 07 SG, I put a SE Comp in it 11k miles ago, it has rattled & knocked since it was new and Im using Formula +.

No lubricant can compensate (pun intended) for a bad design.

 

I'll play. 60k on my SE comp and only Mobil 1...