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Introduction - and Help!

2K views 13 replies 14 participants last post by  btsom 
#1 ·
Hello Bikers,

I am new to the Harley Davidson Forum, but not new to forums. I am a member of the Mercedes Benz vintage forum and the Porsche DIY forum. Enjoying the forums for me starts with an introduction so here goes!
The motorcycle that I just acquired is my third ever Harley Davidson, a 2003 FLHTPI 100th Anniversary Electra Glide Peace Officer Edition. It has the red switches for siren and pursuit on the handle bars but none of the actual sirens or lights. The bike appears to be garage kept and shows no evidence of actual duty chasing bad drivers who didn’t use a turn signal or robbed banks. The motorcycle only has 31,000 miles on it.

My second Harley was a 2005 FLHP Police Road King that was practically new, a Diamond Ice color and had on 1,400 miles when I scooped it up at the dealership in Greeley, Colorado. I flew in to Denver and the salesman from Greeley picked me up at the airport. Thank God I brought my chaps and heavy warm riding jacket and gloves because it was still snowing that fine April day. It had the classic police seat with an adjustable air cone under the solo seat. Later I added a matching passenger pillion and Harley passenger foot boards. My wife took the safety class and her third motorcycle was a Softail Deluxe.

My first Harley Davidson was a 1998 Police Road King that I won bidding at live auction at the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish. The bike was used to train officers and was pretty beat up looking but relatively cheap at $8,900 in 2002 money. My plan was to ship the motorcycle to France where I would live for a year to get my second masters degree in International business. Every Saturday I rendezvoused with the local HOG chapter with a full tank of gas. The French took me in like Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves. I took pictures with my digital camera of our journeys and made 25 copies of the photos on CD to thank those who rode with the group and made me feel welcome. That year I rode 10,000 miles in Europe.

Several years ago my wife had the idea of getting an Electra Glide so she could ride on back and enjoy the scenery while I drive. I liked the idea and thought it would be better to cut our fuel bill in half and improve the safety by only having one bike under my control. The new 2011 Electra Glide Limited was $27,000 plus TT&L, so I decided to rent one for the weekend before pulling the trigger (so to speak). We were in the Texas hill country being serenaded by Bruce Springsteen on the stereo when a deer appeared in the clearing from the woods. The radar in my brain calculated that the deer would cross my paths in a moment, not enough time to slow down which would have thrown my wife off the bike, a moment to move from the left to the right of the lane would have the deer broad side us and knock us down, or a moment to brace for impact. I made the right decision on instinct and turned left into the deer with handle bars and leaning left with all of our weight to hit him T BONE like. I pulled over and my wife was shaking uncontrollably. She said she was done riding motorcycles and I agreed to get a convertible. We sold the motorcycles and got a convertible. But, I was not done riding…

I have been searching for another Police bike for at least two years. I finally found this Electra Glide that looks like new. But the starter is failing. I need to find a diagram and take it apart.

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Best regards,

Jeffrey
 
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#3 ·
The best thing to do is go on ebay and get a factory service manual for the bike. If you cant find one there, the dealer can order one for you.
 
#9 ·
Welcome from North Florida .. Excellent intro and can't top this answer on getting an Actual Factory Service Manual .. Might get Lucky using a Search Engine finding one but be sure is a Genuine HD Factory Service Manual Not Clymer or other kind of knock off ..
 
#8 ·
Welcome from Baton Rouge!

Seems a little early for the starter to actually be failing. You may want to verify the battery, cables and connections first. Lots of knowledgeable members in here if you want to post your symptoms.

 
#11 ·
As far as rebuilding the starter motor itself, it is a common Denso starter.

Plenty of YouTube videos showing the process if needed.
 
#14 ·
What year is this new candidate and do you have any history-mods, non scheduled maintenance, and if it has been sitting, for how long? Somewhere around '11 automatic compression releases became standard. If one or both have stuck closed, that may also be contributing to what seems like a weak starter.
 
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