Oh!!! And I always thought those orange cones simply meant "psychadelic witches embedded in pavement!"

 

Im about to go pull the timing cover off now and hopefully see a bad hydraulic cam chain tensioner.

 

Make sure you grab a small mirror and flashlight to check the inner shoe as well... Don't assume it's in the same condition as the outer one. My outer shoe looked "good enough," but the inner had started to break apart.

 

Also, don't worry about any of the "special tools" for the tensioners. I used a combination wrench with an extension through the box end as a tee handle. It worked perfectly!



To hold the tensioner open, a roofing nail (or similar) works very well:




Good luck, I hope you find the issue!

 

Well, this is seconds after removing the timing cover. Shoes look good front and back. 22,000 miles on the bike. Chain is tight, clean and everything looks great.
What should i be looking for other than that?

 

Oh, silly me... I forgot you obviously have hydraulic tensioners already, so my "tips" were worthless...

Does your bike have a position sensor in the cover? I don't know how that could rattle, but if you're sure it's under the cam cover...

Another thought: Could it actually be from the compensator area, and the sound is being carried through by the crank?

Did you try listening everywhere with a screwdriver or stethoscope to really narrow down the location?

 

Problem finally solved. Big hat's off to EVERYONE that tried to help me!
I was at wits end after everything ive done trying to track this down. As silly as it seemed, i was going to try anything.
Camerosx2 suggested i go loosen all the heat shield brackets and reposition then just a little, then tighten them back down. So, before i did that, i started my harley cold, which let me press on the heat shields in places to see if the rattle stopped.
The first place i pressed was right at the front cylinder exhaust port. The rattle instantly stopped. So, i shut off and checked the bracket and it was tight as it could be. I loosened it and the others and moved the heat shields in a very slightly different position. Started tightening all the brackets from front to back.
Crossed my fingers and started her up. Rattle is gone. I took her for about 20 min ride and she had no rattle or squeeks.
I would have NEVER believed such a thing, until i experienced it myself. Thank You all again for your input! 🤟🏻👍🏻

 

Glad you found the rattle but what about the leak / oil?
Is it possible that the clutch cable took a whack from the cone where it enters the clutch housing?
Just a thought ...

 

Glad that I could help, It’s always a great feeling to finally solve a problem, especially when it doesn’t cost anything to fix it!

 

Not a drop of oil anywhere anymore. It must have been on the cone i hit. Im guessing 🤷🏻*♂️