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[djkak]

A bit of a side track conversation on the topic...

This came off a friends bike who has a SE compensator that has gradually been getting noisy... He has about 6,000 miles on the SE compensator assembly.....  He has decent power in his motor - more than stock - but rides it very easy...  Upon installation, the SE Compensator ran very quietly.  After a few thousand miles, he began to notice a definite clunk upon acceleration (even reving the motor in neutral would produce a clunk) - then it just gradually became more noisy over time - almost sounded like a rattle after a bit.  So I took it all apart for him and found some wear on the fiber disc - and found I could move the compensator by hand - which I could not do on initial installation.  Not easily, and not enough to begin to slide it up the ramps, but I could get movement out of it by hand.  He already sold his stock compensator - so there is no going back - and now has the dilema of what to do...  For now, I just flipped the fiber disc over so the grooved worn side faces outward and the unworn side faces the compensator.  After flipping the disc over and reinstalling it, I can no longer move the compensator by hand.  The disc is only about .010 thinner than stock at the worn surface  - but where it is worn is very smooth as compared to the unworn side (less friction?)  Everything else in the compensator looked like new.  Starting the bike upon reassembly, there is still a clunk - but the rattle is gone (for now).  The compensator assembly was torqued to the spec as stated in the installation instructions - no more/no less.

DJ - opinions on how to proceed?  Replace the thrust washer?  or?  Any assembly instructions or hints other then follow the provided instructions?

After reading your post, I raised my rear wheel off the ground, dropped it in high gear and checked for play in the primary drive by hand. There is none; the sprocket has a lot of tension at rest.
 
Your photo makes the washer appear like a bronze sintered material. I thought that the washer in the kit that I put into my machine was a dark green or brown. I’m running this sprocket in a 131 Street Glide and have 8,600 miles on it without a peep out of the sprocket.

I believe the thrust washer is intended to reduce friction; the smooth finish wouldn’t bother me. I would be more than surprised if a .010” reduction in the stackup would make any appreciable difference. Is there a chance that the spacer behind the alternator rotor has been changed out with something different? What model machine are you working on?

I would certainly want to take a look at a replacement washer as well as another spring-pac. Maybe one of the springs has taken a set. Does your parts person have another assembly that you could take a look at? Consider measuring the stack-up of the spring-pac and comparing it against a new assembly. It might not be a bad idea to confirm the spacer behind the rotor is the correct dimension.

[HD Street Performance]

I agree the material has changed. the units I have installed had a hard green fiber washer, not bronze.
My personal opinion about the setup. Well it is the only game in town right now that I know of short of eliminating the comp for a solid drive element. I would not consider that. It is a shame that HD engineering could not duplicate the maintenance robustness the 5 speed design offered. No maintenance during the product lifecycle for those. Perhaps the fiber disc will offer the same reliability, we will see.
Maybe one of the guys that has access to HD NET can look up the history of the washer and see if there are any revisions. HD does not usually change a part unless they add a revision level indicated by a "a,b,c" letter designation at the end of the number.

[sadunbar]

After reading your post, I raised my rear wheel off the ground, dropped it in high gear and checked for play in the primary drive by hand. There is none; the sprocket has a lot of tension at rest.
 
Your photo makes the washer appear like a bronze sintered material. I thought that the washer in the kit that I put into my machine was a dark green or brown. I’m running this sprocket in a 131 Street Glide and have 8,600 miles on it without a peep out of the sprocket.

I believe the thrust washer is intended to reduce friction; the smooth finish wouldn’t bother me. I would be more than surprised if a .010” reduction in the stackup would make any appreciable difference. Is there a chance that the spacer behind the alternator rotor has been changed out with something different? What model machine are you working on?

I would certainly want to take a look at a replacement washer as well as another spring-pac. Maybe one of the springs has taken a set. Does your parts person have another assembly that you could take a look at? Consider measuring the stack-up of the spring-pac and comparing it against a new assembly. It might not be a bad idea to confirm the spacer behind the rotor is the correct dimension.

I have installed two of these -  mine and this one.  In both kits, the thrust washer was green upon initial installation - and looked more like fiber than bronze material - the bronze color of this one only appeared after use - I assume it scrubbed the green off when it moved when the compensator functioned.  Looking at it after use - it is not fiber as it initially appeared.  All the pieces in the assembly are the correct pieces, including the spacer behind the alternator/rotor.  I believe it is likely there may be inconsistency in the stack up of the spring washers.  That would be a good place to start looking for a dimensional problem.  My bike is an 07 SEUC and my friends is an 08 SEUC.  Short of taking mine apart, I think I may start with seeing if my dealer has one on the shelf I can measure.

[sadunbar]

I agree the material has changed. the units I have installed had a hard green fiber washer, not bronze.
My personal opinion about the setup. Well it is the only game in town right now that I know of short of eliminating the comp for a solid drive element. I would not consider that. It is a shame that HD engineering could not duplicate the maintenance robustness the 5 speed design offered. No maintenance during the product lifecycle for those. Perhaps the fiber disc will offer the same reliability, we will see.
Maybe one of the guys that has access to HD NET can look up the history of the washer and see if there are any revisions. HD does not usually change a part unless they add a revision level indicated by a "a,b,c" letter designation at the end of the number.

I also would be curious to learn if the material has changed - I suspect is has not - I suspect it was bronze all along - but did not look like it out of the box.  But it would be good to know for sure...   

[djkak]

I have installed two of these -  mine and this one.  In both kits, the thrust washer was green upon initial installation - and looked more like fiber than bronze material - the bronze color of this one only appeared after use - I assume it scrubbed the green off when it moved when the compensator functioned.  Looking at it after use - it is not fiber as it initially appeared.  All the pieces in the assembly are the correct pieces, including the spacer behind the alternator/rotor.  I believe it is likely there may be inconsistency in the stack up of the spring washers.  That would be a good place to start looking for a dimensional problem.  My bike is an 07 SEUC and my friends is an 08 SEUC.  Short of taking mine apart, I think I may start with seeing if my dealer has one on the shelf I can measure.

check 

The installed height of the SE sprocket may be very sensitive to a tolerance stack-up. There may be some value in considering the installation of a hardened shim between the crankshaft spacer and the alternator rotor to reduce the installed height. PN 35850-84  (0.010”); about $3

EVO’s used this same shim to align the motor sprocket with the clutch shell. It was installed between the alternator rotor and the sprocket shaft extension. The SE Sprocket alignment is maintained by the collar behind the large sprocket bolt. Installing this shim as mentioned will move the alternator rotor by .010” and have no impact on the sprocket alignment.

The shim is obsolete, but there are a lot of them out there. I would be comfortable using this method on my machine under these circumstances, if it turned out that there was nothing else wrong with the sprocket. I don’t know off hand if there is a difference in diameter between the ’06 and ’07 sprocket shaft. Make sure that the ID of the shim is not too large, compromising the clamp load at this point.

[HD Street Performance]

DJ
Good point bears investigation. I will keep an eye on mine.

Also the green may in fact just be oxidized copper in the bronze part and in normal use the oxidation goes away in a few miles. Just saying!

[sadunbar]

check  

The installed height of the SE sprocket may be very sensitive to a tolerance stack-up. There may be some value in considering the installation of a hardened shim between the crankshaft spacer and the alternator rotor to reduce the installed height. PN 35850-84  (0.010”); about $3

EVO’s used this same shim to align the motor sprocket with the clutch shell. It was installed between the alternator rotor and the sprocket shaft extension. The SE Sprocket alignment is maintained by the collar behind the large sprocket bolt. Installing this shim as mentioned will move the alternator rotor by .010” and have no impact on the sprocket alignment.

The shim is obsolete, but there are a lot of them out there. I would be comfortable using this method on my machine under these circumstances, if it turned out that there was nothing else wrong with the sprocket. I don’t know off hand if there is a difference in diameter between the ’06 and ’07 sprocket shaft. Make sure that the ID of the shim is not too large, compromising the clamp load at this point.

And maybe even more easily a stainless steel spacer of about .010 - .020 thick could be installed behind the thrust washer - same od same id as the thrust washer.  I could have a spacer made at the business easy enough...  Laser it out of a sheet of stainless...  Less work to install....

[HD Street Performance]

OK to MikeH the original poster..
Try installing S&S lifters, Smith Bros tapered pushrods, and use S&S travel limiters. Set the pushrods one turn off the bottom which is easy to find if you DON'T fill them with oil when installing them. I can get you the pushrods. They are very rigid and then use the SE clips and lower pushrod tubes (just a stock EVO tube).
I believe that will improve the noise issue considerably. The offender many times is #1 exhaust

[Hoist!]

OK to MikeH the original poster..
Try installing S&S lifters, Smith Bros tapered pushrods, and use S&S travel limiters. Set the pushrods one turn off the bottom which is easy to find if you DON'T fill them with oil when installing them. I can get you the pushrods. They are very rigid and then use the SE clips and lower pushrod tubes (just a stock EVO tube).
I believe that will improve the noise issue considerably. The offender many times is #1 exhaust

Not familiar with Smith Bros pushrods. I used the S&S lifters with the limiters and used S&S pushrods and pushrod tubes. Out of curiosity, how do they compare? Thanks.

Hoist!

[HD Street Performance]

The Smiths pushrods are great, rigid and work, plus they don't cost an arm and leg. In a stock motor the S&S are up to par if they are chrome moly.
www.pushrods.net

[Hoist!]

The Smiths pushrods are great, rigid and work, plus they don't cost an arm and leg. In a stock motor the S&S are up to par if they are chrome moly.
www.pushrods.net

Thanks for the info Don!

Hoist!

[djkak]

And maybe even more easily a stainless steel spacer of about .010 - .020 thick could be installed behind the thrust washer - same od same id as the thrust washer.  I could have a spacer made at the business easy enough...  Laser it out of a sheet of stainless...  Less work to install....

I had a chance to get one of these apart and the spacer behind the rotor will not change the preload on the sprocket. It looks to me like the best way to change this would be to add an additional small diaphragm spring to the spring-pac; unfortunately these are not sold separately. A complete spring-pac is around $90. Other options involve modifying the hardened hub.

For what it’s worth, the most current thrust washer is green, but is definitely not metallic. If this machine was in my garage and required more preload on the sprocket, I would pass on modifying the hub and pickup a spring-pac. I would use the small diaphragm spring from the old assembly as a spacer in the new. I would also replace the thrust washer with a new 6557 washer.

[djkak]

Attached I-sheet

[Hoist!]

Great info dj! Thanks man! Just what I was looking for since I never got mine back! I'm glad replacement parts are available for it. I just ordered a new thrust washer, sprocket retainer, and hex flange screw. I think I'll give this baby another try, but install it properly this time.

Hoist!

[SBB]

but install it properly this time.

Hoist!

Who installed it improperly last time?
Didn't they have instructions?
But do it after Maggie Valley in case something goes wrong!

                        


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