I have a 2005 deluxe twin cam. I hardly know anything about motorcycles but I'll try to describe this the best way I can. When I was riding my bike seemed to suddenly slip and start making awful grinding sounds even when I was not engaging the clutch. Now my bike is in my garage and when I try to start it it makes a loud knocking sound from the gear side of the engine and it won't start at all. I took the circle plate on the side of it that is held on by 5 hex screws to expose what looks like flywheel maybe? Either way I noticed I have oil all thru there.. Is that normal or what's going on ? Hopefully someone can help me I'm a complete noob when it comes to this. Thanks I posted a pic of what I'm looking at to better explain

 

put that cover back on and put those 5 screws back in........then take the bike to someone that knows! You have NO business being in there if you don't know what that is!!

 

I know but I need to find where the problem is coming from because I don't have a whole lot of money to work with. Is it normal for oil to be all loose in there?

 

yes it's normal......it's the clutch you're looking at.......bathed in oil.

 

Ok thank you. I was reading some other forums and I think and hope it may be a starter problem but I dunno I'll figure it out eventually

 

You are not going to find the problem by going in blind and disassembling things.

What side of the engine is the knocking noise coming from, left or right?

Do not buy a starter...

 

Left front side .. I can feel the knock on my foot pretty good when it sits on the shifter

 

It has all the symptoms of a loose compensator nut.

To check it you will need to remove the outer primary cover.

 

Okay I'll check.. The outer primary is the whole side case part right? Where the clutch is?

 

Yes, the big chrome cover.

Drain the primary lube first, there is a plug on the bottom of the primary.

The plug is item 20 in the illustration.

http://www.granitestateharleystore.c...RY|~HOUSING\BN

Be gentle when removing the cover, you might be able to save the gasket.

Be prepared for sticker shock if you need to buy a new primary cover gasket...