I purchased a 98 Wide Glide from our local dealer last year with roughly 35k, miles on it. Before they would let me purchase it they stated that there was a seal that needed to be replaced in the engine, but for the life of me I can't remember which seal it was. The other day I thought I'd heard a weird noise coming from the engine when I was pulling into my house. There was someone tailing me when i was turning and it kind of sounded like ABS brakes locking up so I thought that maybe the guy behind me was causing the noise. The bike never made any abnormal vibrations or really obvious sounds. Then a couple of days later I noticed that when I would downshift and decelerate by letting the clutch out there was a louder than normal higher pitched "ping" over the normal "tick" which sounded like it was coming from the valve cover area. My wife was on the back and could hear it over my thunderheaders so I figured it was pretty bad. Unfortunately, my hearing isn't the best so I rely on her for things like that.

I called the dealer asking if I could bring it over today and have someone take it for a ride and listen to it but they were swamped and said the earliest would be Wed. At this point I figured I'd change the transmission and engine oil since I had nothing else going on. When I pulled the drain plugs neither one had any metal shavings, just some normal black "dust" looking stuff but it wasn't much at all. However, when I pulled the oil filter I noticed very obvious metal shavings and my heart just sank. This is my first Harley so I'm not sure what all I should expect. I called the dealer and they offered to send a truck out to pick it up on Wed and told me to save the oil filter, which I did.

I took a picture and will probably take the filter into their shop Monday to see what they say before they send a truck out to get the bike. I figured I would upload the picture here and see if anyone has any thoughts on what I may be looking at. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

That doesn't look good. Be prepared for some bad news.

 

That's what I was afraid of hearing

 

That is big metal. My guess is something in the lower end. Not sure if something in the valve train can disintegrate like that without having major indications of a problem. No vibration? Hmmm.... Wish you luck.

 

"That is big metal; doesn't look good. Be prepared for some bad news."

Ouch, painful to see that happen on anyone's bike.
You purchased the bike just last year - any chance there might still be a warranty on it, or was it sold "as is?"
In any case, hope it all works out for you....
~

 

It was purchased "as-is". Within 3 months I had to replace the starter, which I wasn't too concerned about, but this is a bit different.

My main concern is when I talked to the service rep yesterday he stated that he had no history for my VIN number. Well, remember that seal they were supposed to replace before they even let me buy the bike? If they have no history on my bike, how did they replace the seal? If they never did, I'm wondering if I would even have the option for legal action.