Hello,
I Have a 92 Heritage, the battery drains if left unstarted for awhile.
If the battery is low the starter makes a loud noise, kind of a grind, kind of a knock. Once the bike is warm and ran for awhile it will start great after setting a short time.
I have a new battery. I took it to the HD dealership, the tested it and said something about starter clutch maybe bad. They said the gear was being allowed to kick back or turn opposite direction while starting. They qouted a price of 400.

I am unsure if it is a rebuild, or new starter for this price, I forgot to ask.
Does this diagnosis sound right, is it a hard fix?
Thanks,
Lee

 

Lee,
I feel your pain, going through the same insanity on my '01 Dyna CVO. The starters sell new (HD price) for about $500 or so. The issue is the labor, it looks like (in my case anyway) that I would have to take off the battery box, and the rear pipe. Then the reassembly... I'm dreading the possibility that my starter may be shot to hell.

 

Checking all connections and specially grounds would be the place to start.

 

Thanks for the replies. I don't think the starter for this bike is relatively cheap, like you said, cost is mainly labor costs.

I think that I am going to try and do it myself and save a few bucks

 

I forgot to ask: How long is "a while?" Some have better luck with batteries holding power longer than others I've seen in here. You may want to check your battery with a load tester at a battery store or auto parts joint before forking out for the starter.
If you decide to change your starter, I've also seen in here that the oil tank does not have to be removed, just loosened to allow some wiggle room to get the starter out. Just some stuff to consider.

 

A couple days or a week or so, depending on the weather. Cold of course is worse, and my bike is VERY cold blooded.
Removing the tank is one of the reasons the dealer said it would take about 2hrs labor. The battery has been tested, and was good.