A vibration has got me worried a little, going through the gears I feel a vib, after getting into higher gearsthe vib is gone until your hammering down the road say at 80mph or faster, I also feel like something is rubbing at slower speeds sometimes especially in the twisty's, when you feel it you can give it a little throttle and it smooths up, could this also be a comp problem, just wondering if anyone else has had the same symptoms.

 

Bump, really need some ideas or some help on this one.

 

I don't think the OEM comp would be the issue unless your hearing some unusual noises from the primary case.

I would be looking for motor mounts out of spec (correctly torqued fasteners) and checking for anything even slightly touching the motor i.e. the footboards against the header, a dropped nut between the motor and anywhere around the frame and tranny.
Also check for any loose fitments-- mufflers, heat shields, footboards-- you really need to go over everything you can see and feel in case the vibe is caused by an external source.
Maybe the Isolated Drive System (IDS)? Plausible....

From your post count I guess you've been around HD's for a while-- they do vibe for sure here and there and they all seem to be a bit different. My 09 Ultra has a vibe at around 2500-3000 RPM when going up the gears slowly and if I hang in that range for a while I can feel it as a steady harmonic vibe but otherwise is smooth at any steady speed or just running through the gears normally is fine.

Rubbing feeling when in the twisties could be wheel bearings but the probability is low-medium on that one. I have read that a poor tune can add vibes in certain areas but have no direct confirmation or experience with that.

Could be any, several or a combination if things... Investigate with your "Sherlock Holmes" hat on. Hope this reply with get others thinking as well...

 

Jus tthought of a few more possibles-- wheel balance, bad tire, rim bent or out of round or laterally?

 

V2 I hear what your say'n, just thought someone that has comp trouble could give real world symptoms, really doesn't make alot of sense to me, I will go over the thing with a fine tooth comb and see what I find before digging further, it's defintly not a balance issue, tire's are smooth as silk, service manager said that HD would not pay for a comp unless the orig is broke and not just vibrating and he can't even get them to let me upgrade with my own $ to go the difference on a SE comp, apparntly he told them what he was doing and the owner of the dealership had to make up the difference.

 

Vulcan I guess it depends on the definition of comp trouble. I changed mine to a SE comp even though HD said there was "nothing wrong" with the OEM comp. Their definition of "nothing wrong" was different than my definition.
The reason I suggested noise in the primary as a heads up is that my OEM comp sounded like a bag of marbles rolling around inside the primary for about 30 seconds after starting plus the BANG on startup.
It wasn't right but on taking the old one out there was "nothing wrong" with it spec wise and it looked fine-- no damage at all and the bolt was tight etc.
Installing the new one at my cost was the right decision as it's a much better, smoother unit on all accounts-- read heavy duty compared to the pish weak OEM unit, but it didn't change the vibration characteristics of the bike at all.

I still don't think your vibes are comp related. If I were you I would loosen the complete exhaust system and retighten in accordance with the SM i.e. start at the heads and work to the mufflers.
Have you hit a pothole somewhere at all...

Check the motor mounts and the motor alignment in the frame- it could be off. Sorry but I can't think of much else other than what I've mentioned.

Good luck and let us know what you eventually find.