TOPIC:

A Harley friend had his engine upgraded by the dealer he purchased the bike from.
Was but two days after the investment his engine ceased making noise. Apparently there was an extra bolt loose inside the engine that wasn't there when he dropped it off.

Ahh I see, the basket springs seemed fine and with the condition its's all in I'm not going to split it and take it apart as they appear just fine. I wondered why you'd ask about the clutch springs, I was honestly just hoping something was loose around there. I know my ign and stator area are all secure as I've checked those, and now I know it most likely wasn't the clutch causing the issue.
So tonight I get to drop that oil pan and I'll most likely be pulling the engine and splitting the cases.
Daveo, I didn't lose anything at any point, but the top end was off and I had an open engine for a good two months (It was covered, both directly and with a cover over the whole bike in a garage) so to my knowledge nothing ended up in there but I guess crazier things have happened.
Did you tell your buddy to ditch the Harley and pick up a KZ? Seems like the only smart thing to do.
Anyway, here's a couple more pics from messing with the clutch yesterday:
Before:

After:

And waiting on clutch springs:

Well I dropped the oil pan yesterday, nothing seemed to crazy out of whack. couple small pieces of aluminum it looked like but who knows what and where that came from. one looked like a piece of a thread so I'm betting that came from the bolt getting pulled out on the cams before I did the helicoil. No chain guide pieces or anything. Next step is to start tearing her down and taking her apart, looks like splitting the case is in my future!

AAAAnnndd I'm back. Finally got around to pulling the top end off the engine last night and I've got good and bad news. Good news is I found the source of the noise and it's the easier fix labor-wise. Bad news is its also potentially the more expensive repair. Looks like Baldy110 may have been right and I trashed two sets of rings and potentially pistons. 3&4 are perfect but it looks like the rings for 1&2 locked up and I was hearing piston rattle.
Now for the questions:
What do you guys think would have caused this? I checked all my ring end gaps and they were all within what MTC called for. Everything appeared to be operating fine to start out but maybe they were muffed up and the oil ring kept it steady enough not to slap at lower RPM?
Ill post some pics down below of the carnage, what do you guys think? are the pistons usable? They're marred pretty bad but it's just at the top and there doesn't appear to be any cracks or anything. Obviously just replacing them would be best, but I don't particularly want to unless MTC is gonna let me buy just two pistons off them. I'm gonna take them off the rods tonight and inspect them more thoroughly but let me know what you guys think about their potential re-use.

Try not to cringe:

Are the wrist pins locked up?
Steve

No, the wrist pins move just as they did when I put the pistons in brand new, no rough movement or feel of locking up when I wiggle the pistons. I'll also be inspecting them better tonight when I take the pistons off.

Side note:
Just contacted MTC and they do sell half piston sets, so I'll just be replacing those two pistons. After I re-hone the jugs.

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

The engine got really hot.

GOOD POINT, #1 SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST TO GO.

Live and learn I suppose.
Guess I'll definitely be using your break in procedure Baldy110! You called that one even before I knew I had an issue.
Do you lube the heck out of your cyl when you do a piston install? I lubed mine a bit but the instructions from MTC say to do it dry.

Dry but I used to lube them and never had an issue either way really.