I 10000 miles on a 2003 fatboy that I inherited from my father last year. Before he passed away he told me that he has as much motor work done to the top end that you would want to do with a stock bottom end. It also has big cams and bigger carb. To be honest this bike even smokes brand new bikes on the road. I am mechanically inclined and tried adjusting the primary chaine tensioner because I am getting that chain slap noise. I can not seem to adjust it right no matter what I do. Do these bikes have problems with the tensioner going bad. No matter what I do it seems like the tensioner spring has weakened . Before I tear apart the bike can I get some your opinions on what might be the problem:)

First of all it is very easy to take the primary off the bike. You will need a gasket and some oil to replace. It takes about 5 minutes to do. If there is a problem with the tensioner then you could have the potential of greater problems if the thing comes apart. If you feel that you were making the adjustment correctly and it is not working I would inspect the tensioner to make sure that it is OK or replace it.

Best advice I can give without seeing it.

Tensioners wear out. IF you can't adjust it anymore than you probably have to replace it.
They wear out faster if they were too tight.
Double check all your specs and procedures if you're doing it right and can't fix it then replace.
Hope it helps.

Thanks for the info.. I took the primary cover off and realized that my father put a hydraulic tensioner in. It looks like the hb125 and there are deap grooves in the pad. Does anybody know were to get a replacement pad and what kind of oil to use, oh yeh and how much? THANKS!

Glad to hear that you are on your way to a fix! Here is where you can get the shoe https://www.sohotbikes.com/shoe.html

And you can get an idea of all the different kinds of oil to use. viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1215&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=0


SE Syn = Harley synthetic oil

I like Mobil One for V Twins

Let us know how it works out.

Sounds good thanks again..big help.:)

Glad to have you here at the forum! Happy to help!