Had a gorgeous 65 deg. Spring day for the first in a long time and my main ride was dead. I could hear the starter relay clicking but nothing else. The Battery was relatively new but I pulled the seat anyway and found a not surprising 12.6 volts. I pulled out the manual and with my not so great electrical skills I found power at the main post on the starter solenoid but nothing at the center ( smaller ) post! I'm far from an expert but this was looking like a starter relay but the clicking was coming from a hard to reach place under the battery in front of the rear fender!!! I pulled the console off the speedometer and again with my very limited skills found power normal everywhere up there.
I was pretty sure this was a relay or less likely a bad wire. My bike has a stainless steel plate at the bottom of the rear fender with 4 Bolts ( kind of a bitch ) but I got access to the relay. I pulled a relay out of a car in the driveway and my ride jumped to life!!!.
By now it was 3 pm on a Sunday and the HD dealer would be closed before I got there. I went to Autozone and bought a RL 44 relay rated at 40 amps at 12.8 volts. same as the one I stole out of the car. I went and got my fix and 40 miles and 3 or 4 starts later all was fine. Do any of you electrical gurus know if I'm ok, I don't want to screw with taking off that plate again. Is the auto relay good. Please answer only if you are an expert and know if my $7.00 fix will last, no guesses from those who know even less then me please!

 

The auto relay will be fine

 

You`re good to go. The relay from auto zone could well be of better quality than the oem. The bean counters at hd will spend 25 cents to cost you $250.

 

Thank-you Gentlemen, I will sleep better tonite and quit sneaking out to the garage to see if the damn thing still starts!