SE Compensator upgrade

[STEVE07]

My first compensator went south on me in Gatlinburg, Replaced under warranty with the oem style. Bike was 3 months old. Second replacement was at 1 1/2 years old. This time with the S.E. comp. That lasted about 2 years. Replaced again. Now it is going in for another replacement. Bike has 120,000k on it. Love my Extended Service Plan!

 

[Jennmarr]

At Jennmarr, some have said riding style may play a factor. But according to Bubbie, the lubrication issue only applies to the SE comps. The stock comp going out on mine (and still good in yours) is the weak spring issue. I suppose the springs could be inconsistent? Don't know. Wish I did.

I did not catch that the lubrication theory only applied to the SE comps. That, and your theory about poor quality control on the springs for the OE model makes more sense to me.

I was wondering about riding styles too. I'm curious what your riding style is? Of the three bikes I referred to previously, I am the more aggressive rider. The guy who has had the most trouble, is the most conservative. Ironically, he is also the most meticulous in his maintenance practices. I don't mean to suggest that I ignore regular maintenance, but just that he is definitely more careful to adhere EXACTLY to the schedule.

 

[atm33]

I was wondering about riding styles too. I'm curious what your riding style is? Of the three bikes I referred to previously, I am the more aggressive rider. The guy who has had the most trouble, is the most conservative.

Would say I'm somewhere in the middle. Not too conservative, and don't try to lug the engine too much. Rode today and she ran like a champ, but I didn't try to start it again when it was hot (this is when the starter kick problem shows up for most). Think I'll wait til spring to do the SE upgrade. That will give Darkhorse a chance to perfect their new comp, if they are even able to bring it to market. All the other choices seem like no-go's to me (BDL & Vulcan Works direct sprockets). Heck, maybe even MoCo may have a new offering by then.

 

[Jennmarr]

At what speed do you shift into 6th gear? Any performance mods?

 

[atm33]

At what speed do you shift into 6th gear? Any performance mods?

I must admit I sometimes go into 6th underspeed around 60. I've been trying lately to run at higher rpms at all times to avoid any type of lugging. I also live atop a large hill and have to take uphill winding roads to get there, requiring lots of gear shifting to avoid lugging. No mods other than V&H pipes. I see where you are going with this, and I suppose its possible. Only thing is, I've only had this bike for less than 1K miles, and don't know how the previous owner treated it. I'd have to imagine every owner finds themselves working the engine at low rmps at some point on hills and such, as long as its not a perpetual habit. Could contribute to failures over the long haul though I suppose.

 

[Jennmarr]

I don't know if it means anything either, but I never use 6th gear under 70 mph.

 

[dolt]

Don't know how the springs affect the later model comps but I have added a extra Bellville spring in a couple of pre '07 comps. The experiment was first done on my brothers bike to see if the additional spring would minimize or eliminate that first gear clunk common to some of the pre '07 models. We took a spring from an old compensator and added it to his and it worked. Just a little "snick" when engaging first gear and smoother shifting all around. Since then have done it on a couple of bikes with the same result.

Not familiar enough with the construction of the '07 and later comps to know if they would benefit from an additional spring but the added spring certainly doesn't increase lubrication which is the root cause of the early failures.

 

[atm33]

Not familiar enough with the construction of the '07 and later comps to know if they would benefit from an additional spring but the added spring certainly doesn't increase lubrication which is the root cause of the early failures.

This might be a fix for the original compensator though, in which the springs become too weak (not the subsequent SE ones with lube issues). I read a post similar to this on another site, but there weren't many specifics.

 

[dolt]

This might be a fix for the original compensator though, in which the springs become too weak (not the subsequent SE ones with lube issues). I read a post similar to this on another site, but there weren't many specifics.

Yeah, I said as much. I know it's a fix for the early compensators with weak springs having done it several times and it might be a solution for weak springs in the later compensators. However, the only way to address the lubrication issue is with the latest upgrade from the MoCo or the GMR Compensaver which is a similar but more eloquent solution IMHO.

 

[atm33]

Yeah, I said as much. I know it's a fix for the early compensators with weak springs having done it several times and it might be a solution for weak springs in the later compensators. However, the only way to address the lubrication issue is with the latest upgrade from the MoCo or the GMR Compensaver which is a similar but more eloquent solution IMHO.

Why on Earth wouldn't MoCo simply add another spring and fix the issue. A million headaches would have been avoided from '08 to present. May have to give it a try before shelling out $$$ for an SE next spring.