yeah that...If you still have the bearing take it to him and let him look at it...could have come out while removing the old cam bearings or while replacing the old...I would still open the chest and take a look see...

 

As Kirby said, if in fact the OE bearings were intact, I'd get inside that cam chest.
Scott

 

Hi, all, thanks for all the advice. Here's the latest in the Mystery of the Needle Bearing.

First, spent a lot of time looking at YouTube videos, learned a lot without getting my hands greasy. Looking at cam bearings being installed, I cannot see how they could escape once everything is bolted back together. So...

We figure that means it's a remnant of something that was left inside when the engine work was done, nothing grenading now.

Local cam builder Jim Leineweber took a look at it today and said, "That did not come out of that motor, too short. I think it came out of a Sportster."

When the idea was proposed that it could have been something that rode on a greasy rag from a workbench and got wiped into that cavity, he laughed and said, "That's plausible."

In the meantime, the old oil filter was cut apart, no debris found. Filled her up with new oil, put on new filter, started and warmed up, checked the magnetic plug again and it was clean. Put a stethoscope on the engine, only hear whirling sounds both on rocker boxes and cam cover, no crunching or unusual out-of-cadence noises.

The plan is to ride about 20 miles, get donut, come back and check all over again, every day for at least a week and see if another stranger appears on the magnet. The cam maker's curiosity is roused, so he might cut me a deal to look inside and see if there is anything in there.

Right now the bike sounds great, powerful. Manicure intact.

So, what do you think????

 

Perhaps the drain plug was set on a bench with remnants that were attracted by the magnet. When installed it wasn't looked at closely.

Maybe when installed it was assumed to be clean and just wasn't looked at closely.

Maybe it was a mix up with the wrong plug from another motor but fit in place, again without looking closely before putting it back in.

Hope for your sake it has nothing to do with failing components inside of your motor.

 

Do you have any little kids that like to hide stuff, doubt that went through the oil pump without grenading the motor.