So here is the background. driving down the road on my 2005 Softail Deluxe and all of a sudden I get a bad vibration, at first I thought tire or belt. I stopped, checked the tires and belt no problem.
I noticed some oil drips on the side of the oil tank so I checked the level and it was bone dry. Other than a couple of drops there was no leaks no smoke but no oil.
Brought it to the shop and they tour into it and found a bad cam bearing, bad oil pump and a few other small items.

Long story short had the top end redone and when I went to pick it up it appeared to me to still have a vibration which coincides to the rpm of the motor. Mechanic said he didn't notice it so I left. He was wrong, The bike runs but vibrates right up from the floorboards. I rode it all the way home 200 miles with this vibration. I stopped several times along the way to check the oil level which was fine.
The next day I went to check the oil level and it was bone dry. WHAT THE, no leaks, no smoke but no oil.

I cranked the motor over and the oil light came on but went off. I shut it down and poof the oil tank was full.

What do you guys think? is the vibration and the oil draining into the motor related, two separate issues?

 

You have two unrelated situations. The oil tank on a softail is above the crank case and oil from the tank can drain past the pump and into the crank case thereby emptying the tank but filling up the crank case. On the next start up, the pump scavenges the oil from the crank case and circulates it back to the tank. That is why you see oil level OK when the motor was running but after sitting over night the tank was dry but the tank filled up after you started the motor.

The wavy washer between the pump gerotors is what keeps pressure on the plates to seal the pump against oil draining from the tank but is a softail sits for a few days, the oil will drain past that seal, through the pump and into the crank case. I think it is unusual for the tank to drain over night which would point to worn oil pump internals. Might want to replace all the internals in the pump with new or at least replace the wavy washer and the separator plates. In any event, check your oil when the motor is hot, say just after a ride. If the level is not full, that is the time to add oil. Do not ever check the oil level cold as the reading is meaningless and if you add oil, you will over fill.

The vibration issue is not related to the oil situation which is a non-issue. There are many sources of vibration such as a loose or worn motor mount, worn tires, etc. and all the possible obvious sources that can be rectified by a simple fix should be checked. However, the vibration you are experiencing could very likely be the counter balance assembly that may have been damaged when the cam bearing and oil pump went south. The repair is a major one that requires removing the lower unit from the frame, splitting the cases and replacing or repairing the damaged parts.

Another source of vibration could be a crank shaft that tweaked when the cam bearing and oil pump went south; less likely IMHO but still possible. This can easily be confirmed or eliminated by measuring the crank runout at the pinion shaft. While easy to confirm or eliminate, this repair will also require removing the lower unit to replace or repair the crank shaft.

So, check the bike over looking for something loose that could be causing the vibration; take it back to the dealer, they need to acknowledge that there is an abnormal vibration; check crank runout at the pinion shaft to confirm or rule out the crank as the source of the vibration in which case, the counter balancer could be the source of the vibration.

 

Thanks for that feedback.

The oil pump was completely replaced because the Cam bearing took it out.

I'm probably more inclined to think it it is the counter balance assembly at this point but I am taking it back to have them figure it out. The vibration is definitely coming from the motor and the obvious things like mounts were checked. I don't need to drive it to get the vibration. The bike in neutral the vibration is there at idle and as I increase the rpms the vibration frequency increases with it.

 

Most likely the c/balancer chain sprocket, slipped on the pinion shaft, creating an out-of-timed balancer.
Seen this happen with that era engine on many occasions.
Scott