I have a 1987 FLST that had the solenoid hang up last year after doing a minor freshening, mostly lookee-me stuff. It fried the solenoid, burnt/melted the positive battery and solenoid-to-starter cables, caused a shorted cell in the battery, and toasted the starter.

When searching for another Hitachi-type starter I was less than pleased at the replacements available as many of them are Chinese and suspect quality. I ended up buying an All ***** 1.4KW starter that is more powerful than the stock unit, and is also shorter/more compact. I replaced the solenoid with my favorite - Accel - a Throttle X battery, and all new super flexible battery & starter cables.

The All ***** starter turns the stock 80 inch motor over very quickly! So far I am well satisfied. Also, if you are in the market for a high quality battery, but don't like the usual HD price, Throttle X units are top quality, meeting or surpassing the stock batteries, but at about 2/3 to 3/4 the price. They also offer free shipping, and the several units I have gotten from them made the Michigan-Texas trip in 2 days.

Pics are the All ***** vs the stock Hitachi and the All ***** installed. I had to rotate the All ***** for the terminal to clear the custom round oil tank/fittings. The starter has 3 positions it can be set to for whatever a stock/custom application might require. Also, the All ***** starter does not have an end cover, nor does it require an outboard bracket making for a cleaner installation.

 

I'm running this battery right now:

For $75 and free shipping, I figured I couldn't go wrong. It works. My bike is a battery killing machine.

 

My early Softail factory installed starter is connected to the ride side of the transmission and requires no battery or silly noid.