I can't really quite figure out how this could happen, but .......
In Daytona for Bike Week 2014, I thought I lost my clutch when I shifted hard into second gear entering the interstate. I have 82K on my 05 Heritage. I limped back to the Speedway at 40 mph, which was all I could get without slippage. Long story short, the clutch still had 5 thousandths wear left on the plates. What did happen, and they see it about once a year, is I stripped out the splines on the clutch hub. It had to be a failure in progress because it was filings not chunks laying on the frame beneath it. I would think you could check for play by wiggling the drive belt from side to side. The real indicator was that when you let the clutch out, the odometer went up but the bike didn't move, indicating the transmission was turning. I got a free clutch from Harley without a fuss due to their miss-diagnosis.

 

If the clutch hub splines failed, the shavings would be inside the primary drive.

If the shavings are on the frame, you have had a front pulley spline failure.

 

Definitely the clutch hub. It is outside the primary housing. Technically speaking it is attached to the fifth gear shaft and is the hub that the drive belt rides on forward of the rear wheel sprocket.

 

word!

 

That is not the clutch hub.

The clutch hub is in the center of that clutch assembly lying in the drain pan.

The part you are replacing is the front pulley (or sprocket), like I already said.

You don`t have to believe me, just look at a parts manual.

Technically speaking, you are going to have some problems buying parts or asking for help if you don`t learn the correct nomenclature.

 

Clearly it's a front belt sprocket failure. A dealer mis-diagnosed this as a slipping clutch? That's hilarious! And also why I no longer try to help dealers fix bikes over the phone.

 

Whoa...let`s not be so quick to badmouth the dealer mechanic.

I think you need to go back and read the post again...

There is no indication that the dealer did anything wrong here, the pictures look like they were taken in an organized work area, such as a professional shop, and clearly the mech is working on the front pulley, not the clutch.

I think the OP has got his wires crossed as far as the correct names for the parts.

 

Clearly the failure is the belt sprocket splines (as you say, pulley). This happens all the time. The poster states "the clutch still had 5 thousandths wear left on the plates". How would he know that had the dealer ( I am presuming as he states "Harley")not taken his clutch apart, thinking it was slipping and causing his issue? Then they put it back together with new plates and still "she no-go". Then someone finally put the bong down and figured it out. That's how he got a free clutch, it was already in there. I been down this road, then around the bend, and over the hill, into the valley and, well you get it.

 

Free parts and labor are good! Least they did that for you.

 

Dan89FLSTC, I stand corrected! It was the transmission sprocket. They looked similar in the parts book. Still hard to imagine how they fail. I'm not much at drag racing. The clutch assembly in the one pic, is the new clutch they installed only to realized that was not the problem.