I just finished changing the primary fluid on my 2009 Streetglide as part of the 20K maintenance. There were 2 or 3 small slivers of metal on the plug magnet. Is this normal, or should I be concerned ?

 

Hard to say...it could be from sources such as the compensator or the clutch basket, or a sliver from a bearing race. Best to pop off that primary, get yourself a good light, and look around. Could also be a little piece slivered off of the starter gear or the toothed ring it engages each time you start your bike.

WARNING: Remove the negative cable from your battery. DO NO PULL ON THE STARTER GEAR OR MESS WITH IT AT ALL IF YOUR NEGATIVE TERMINAL IS NOT DISCONNECTED. If you pull it, the starter will engage, regardless of ignition position, and you could be injured.

 

man, I have to give you a lot of credit for the terminal advice.
a lot of folks are new and think that's not necessary or don't know about it. it's one thing when your working on your lights but another .......
great service to the members.

 

A harley tech would say...

"Yeh, that's normal!" Good thing I'm not a harley tech! While it may very well be 'normal' because of bad design or manufacturing, it is never good to find metal slivers anywhere in your motor including the primary case.

If I were to guess, I'd have to say that looks like the compensator or clutch hub spline(s). Best you pull it apart, before it comes apart 100 miles from home...

 

Come on guys. I can appreciate your concern for the OP, but a couple of slivers that size. You surely aren't going to see anything by pulling the primary and doing a visual inspection. If there is anything in the primary that is "chewed" up enough that you're going to see it with a visual inspection, you'd have a whole lot more than 2 or 3 of those slivers.

My vote is to fill it with oil and forget it.

 

Now I'm sure you know that pulling the primary is just the first step in disassembling and inspecting the parts within...

Don't you?

Two or three of those slivers is MORE than I would EVER hope to see in my primary!

Your vote to "fill it with oil and forget it" will have the OP sitting on the roadside hoping his cell phone will connect...

Just for clarification... ANYTHING sticking to the magnet over the size of dust is cause for concern! Even if it is just small flakes, like the size of metal flake back in the '70s, is reason enough for me to take it down. Dust is from 'normal wear and tear', larger pieces are shavings as in metal parts scraping against each other where they should NOT scrape. Or, in this case, splines being stripped off the shaft/hub.

 

Agreed, That is normal wear/break in, don't sweat it. Personally I drain the primary and put in a quart of fresh Rotella diesel 10w40 or HD Formula plus every 5000 miles. gets rid of the clutch wear crap and is great for your stator and compensator.

 

Seriously? I'm going to not say what I would tell anyone about a 'mechanic' who advises to ignore something that size. Oh, wait! I did in my first post!

You and 2black1s MUST be factory trained harley techs!

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Your approach, while I can't argue there is anything technically wrong with, is overkill and unecessary in my opinion.

 

I can agree to that...

The fact that we disagree, I mean.