Don't think the primary is gonna rattle like that..... Time to open the cam chest......

 

You may be right, but it can't hurt to check; if nothing else to rule it out. I've had 2003-2005 models make a racket you'd swear was coming from the cam chest and it turned out to be a loose compensator nut.

 

Agreed... Sound can travel amazingly in these all aluminum motors....

 

Sometimes ya just gotta pop the covers and look and see. If it were me, knowing what I know about those tensioners, I would drain the oil and look for debris and pop the cam cover first. If that is all good, then do the primary...and if they are all good, I would start cussing.

But that's just how I start looking for mysterious sounds

 

Not sure why you don't think it could be the primary chain, it turns in both neutral and in gear.
But I doubt it's the chain if the bike has to warm up before this noise starts.

I would still do what everyone suggest, pull the primary cover and the Cam chest cover and check the tensioner shoes. I still don't think it will be worn shoes given it has to get hot first. Still could be a comp issue so that would be the first thing I would check. Hope it's something that easy, but based on the fact it is dependent on heat, could be piston slap or worse. Too hard to tell by the recording.

 

A compensator nut coming loose was not an uncommon event with the early models. The nut could be torqued to spec but bottom out on the crank and not develop the necessary clamping pressure to keep it the comp assembly tight. The MoCo used to sell shims as a solution but most of us just shaved .030"-.060" off the comp nut to solve the problem. I would be checking both the primary and the cam chest but the primary is an easier place to start.

 

Compensator nut coming loose was primarily a 2003 up issue when HD changed the left side main from Timken to roller.

Still early bikes had an issue where the inner spacer would cut into the rotor and break out the center section.. My 2000 Dyna did it at about 50K miles.

 

Sounds like some metal rub on your cam tension chain.

I had one of the old style one go on my 88. Didn't destroy my engine but it was a close call.

I would be interested in knowing what it ultimately is because I have the new style tensioners now also.

 

That's why I again nudged him. I think he's confusing it with trans input shaft. The heat thing does seem backwards but...

I would pop the adjustment cover and check the chain - then start and listen for noise from primary before I started taking cam covers and all that other stuff apart. I saw tons of loose comp nuts before and after 2003 - many due to the stack up and needing shims or the nut cut down as noted above. Plus, it's really going to suck if it's in the motor so start simple and pray lol

 

OP ... Let us know what you find out.