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[cowboy-biker]

First off, howdy!  I'm new to your group and have been reading through some older posts regarding this subject.  A little background info for you... I have an '09 Fat Boy with appx. 42K miles on it. In the past week or so I started noticing the same kind of noise that some of you talked about in the other threads.  I performed a clutch adjustment, hoping that this was the reason behind the noise, but unfortunately it is still whirring away.  NOW! The difference I'm seeing from the other posts I read is this.  I can have the engine running, say driving down the road...pull up to a stop light and shift the bike into Neutral while still holding the clutch in.  Once I let go of the clutch, that is when the noise starts.  If I pull the clutch in again...the noise keeps going.  It will continue to make noise until I put it into gear. 

So no noise even in neutral until I let the clutch out, keeps on being noisy until I put it back into gear.  Otherwise, no noise at all while I'm going down the road. 

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.  Is this the chain tensioner-little-plastic-thingamajig? 

[cowboy-biker]

I've seen you guys mention the compensators....have no idea where it is or how I would find out about the number.  Any clues?

[scttgr8]

my guess...not having the benefit of hearing the noise...is the compensator making noise and not the plastic thingamajig      

[ltank]

Normally the the older motor compensator don't make a whine sound they make a clunking sound if the spring losses tension. The primary chain can make the cound you described. The auto adjusters work ok except under hard load they will auto adjust and latch up too tight. Alawys check the screws that attach it to the inner primary. I had a screw come loose eating the half of the primary chain. I was lucky that I could limp home 25 miles taking it real easy.I was lucky it did not break the inner primary. But it surely mad one heck of a BADDD NOISE!!! when it come loose. The clutch should be quite and make a slight noise when the clutch is pulled in. It should not be audiable in a closed primary. In a open primary it would be audiable.

[Sklywag]

I thought I had a compensator issue on my 09 Ultra, turned out the compensator was fine (figure of speech) but the auto chain tensioner was stuck.  All it took was a slight pop with a long screwdriver & it tensioned up and all was fine (figure of speech) again.

(Figure of speech)= it just ain't built right so ok is always questionable.

[cowboy-biker]

Well, the next question I would have, I guess, is since this noise doesn't take place while I'm heading down the road...do you suppose it's safe for me to drive the bike to the mechanic so he can take a listen/look? 

Actually, one more question....how do you determine if the chain is too tight? How much play should it have? 

I appreciate all of your input.  I am not and have never been a mechanic...but I can follow the directions in my Clymer's book.  For the most part anyway.   

[Sklywag]

No real way to tell if it's too tight as the tensioner is automatic & keeps pressure on all the time.  There is so little clearance in the primary for the chain with the size of the compensator you just have to trust the adjuster.

What was the clue for me was the whine stpped & it became noisy, the chain hitting the case, as soon as the tensioned was released to start working again the whine was back & the noise was gone.

Trust it, HD wouldn't screw it up.  If it whines it good  if it makes noise it's bad

[HILLSIDECYCLE.COM]

I'd take a look at that adjuster first.
Scott

[AXIL]

   Sounds like the inner primary mainshaft bearing to me.

[grc]

   Sounds like the inner primary mainshaft bearing to me.

    I'd say you are most likely correct.  The bearing will make a whirring type of noise, and it is affected by by the clutch engagement/disengagement status. 

Cowboy-biker, I think it would be a good idea to take the bike to a good shop and let them check it out as soon as you can.  The primary bearing has been problematic since 2006/2007, and any experienced Harley tech should be aware of that issue.  While the primary is opened up, the other items mentioned here like the compensator and auto chain adjuster can also be checked out. 


Jerry

[petewerner]

Is it possible that the throw out bearing is going away? I had an issue with one on an older bike/clutch, it whirred til I got it fixed. Don't know if that is even a possibility on this new of a bike...

[Fullsac Performance]

   Sounds like the inner primary mainshaft bearing to me.

X3   

[Rooster]

When my comp assembly went I heard the whirring noise come and go once or twice then got worse but was able to ride it to the dealer. The bearing had walked. Replaced with Baker bearing on HDdude's advice along with SE comp assembly been good ever since.

[cowboy-biker]

Thanks for all of your great answers folks.  Today I spoke with 5 different mechanics.  Two of them were at the 2 local HD dealerships and got two different answers. Then talked to a friend who runs a bike shop but works mostly on rice-burners. Different idea.  Long story short, all of them had different ideas.  The last one, who I didn't even know was only about 4 miles from my house, works on HD bikes almost exclusively.  I took the bike to him, he drove it for a couple of minutes and said he'd bet money that it is the needle bearing(s).   SO, I'm going to take the bike to him Saturday and he'll probably have it for a week or more, taking everything apart, waiting FOR the parts (3 or 4 days) and then putting everything back together.  So it sucks that I'm not going to have my bike for a couple of weeks, especially since I usually ride it to work every day.  The good news is, it's only going to cost me about $350.  Which was a whole lot better than the $1400 that one of the HD shops told me. 

Thanks again for all of your help on this guys.   

[petewerner]

Good luck, and please let us know what he actually found when he broke it down This is a good reason to have a second bike!!