Ill try keep this as brief as possible...I know I get to detailed sometimes. 1998 electra glide classic with a dmc sidecar thats been hooked to it for the past 20k roughly. It has 42k on it now and ive had it for the last 15k or so. It was infected but after i found the sensor melting this summer i did a carb conversion. Everything went smooth and the bike ran great. A vibration started and i found the front engine mount was done so i replaced it with an HD version. In my mind I thought it helped but soon the vibration grew to where it was getting hard to ride above 50 in 5th. Mostly felt in the handlebars. It still ran smooth as before in the first 3 gears...pulled nicely and cruised with no issues. Get into 4th and excellerate under higher load and the vibration was there but tolerable. 5th gear was a no go above 3k but did smooth out about 4000 rpm and it would not accelerate past that. It was never an issue before.
So before I put it away i drained the oil and i just recently cut open the filter and found some glitter on the inside of the filter element, outside was clean and I didn't see or find anything in the oil. Its definitely magnetic, so steel from something. For the carb conversion it came with a dynatek 2000i ignition and it died on me one day out on a ride...no power coming from it. So i ordered up another one and while it ran until it was put away it did have 2 or 3 times where the bike wouldn't start, crank no fire. After waiting and cycling the ignition it would start. The first ignition had some metal filings that were on the pickup magnets and i just figured it normal for a new ignition. I changed the timing cup the first time and again with the new ignition...both were v-twin brand. Again the bike ran great and seemed smooth in the lower gears. I know the bike was dealer maintained by the first owner and the guy that put the sidecar on it didn't have it very long but he took good care of it as I have. The only "bad" I can think of is I was pulling it into the garage one time and i have a pretty steep ramp to get up to floor height and it stalled and kicked back as i was letting out the clutch to get in, should have given it more gas. The vibes started a few months after that. I would think the compensator would have taken up any force before damaging the crank/flywheel or bearings. Im hoping its something in the cam case, like maybe a bearing. I did read a bad bearing can cause the sensor to get hot and thats why they melt, not sure. Not really wanting to build another of my motors from the crank up honestly.
Im going to pull the cam cover today or tomorrow and maybe that'll shed some light...either find the smoking gun ( bearing) or figure out that Im building an evo for the first time. Looking at the service manual the evo looks very serviceable but quite a few specialty tools are needed. I feel capable but not excited lol. Oh and I pulled the lifter screen and it had a few...maybe a dozen tiny pieces of something magnetic. This bike has always riden smooth, ran very quiet and has the stock exhaust so you hear everything but now Im here asking the forum what they think. Ill post a picture of part of the filter element. Thanks for any help or advice even if it hurts.