I have a customized 96 Softail with a primary spacer kit, 200mm rear tire, and a 2004 96 cubic inch S&S motor. I rode it about 4 hours last weekend and it picked up a nasty vibration. It has no tach but I am pretty sure it is engine speed dependent. I would assume it is worst in the vicinity of 3000 rpm. I never pushed it faster to see if it would go away.

I want to say that the vibration occurs whether the bike is rolling or not or whether or not the clutch is engaged. The primary chain was really loose, so I adjusted it. That didn't help.

I pulled the outer primary case off and found metal fragments in the oil and the oil itself looks like silver metallic paint. I would guess aluminum, but not sure. The compensator/front sprocket doesn't feel loose nor does the nut. I was going to take it off but didn't have the right socket. I have a 1 7/16 but it appears to be slightly smaller than that. The clutch doesn't seem obviously loose.

The starter has always sounded like a coffee can full of rocks, and I can see that some of the teeth on the ring gear are quite chewed up. I doubt it could have lost enough material to make it off balance enough to cause this. I plan to take off the compensator and inspect it when I get the right socket.

Any advice is greatly apprecited.