a friend of mine has a custom built bike with few miles on it. it recently started leaking from the primary area. his chain is pretty damn tight could that cause a leak? should I pull the clutch and compensator off and check the tourque of the inner primary bolts? where should i start ?

 

Sounds like a seal or gasket.Try to pin point the leak.
Dont think it's the chain but it should be adjusted correctly anyway.

 

I wouldn't remove anything until you get your hand down under the front of the primary,where the engine meets the primary and whipe. If you feel fluid there, it's probably coming from the o-ring pinched or not seated properly. Continue to the primary cover gasket area. If it's dry,move to the your starter shaft seal,trans main seal(check trans fluid level)and of course your inner primary trans shaft seal.

 

Shifter shaft seal is my guess.

 

its set up for fowards only...i had that happen to me though, it was my first guess when he called. he had it all apart before i got to his shop so I couldnt really see what was up but it seemed most of the fluid coming from up towards the starter when I looked at the inner primary