My old 1995 Road King Evo starter’s clutch went out so I’m going to help my buddy who bought the bike fix it.

I know to take the primary off to remove the starter gear.

My question is, do I need to remove the starter to replace the sprag clutch or can I just remove the two starter through bolts and split the starter from the primary mount, leaving it on the primary, replace the sprag, and put it back together?

Appreciate any advice.

 

The only time I've done that I took the starter off the engine - but then I followed the FSM! That's a jolly good place to start. You will probably find, as I did, that the interior of the starter is filthy and deserves a good clean, before rebuilding it. I'm not sure that will pe practical while still on the engine, if the job can be done that way.

 

Starter off and a work bench, it's not a difficult job but sometimes 2 sets of hands is a plus when putting it back together. Be prepared to spin the pinion gear to get some room to put it together.

 

To answer the question, yes you need to remove the starter from the bike to replace the sprag clutch. You can get the starter out of a touring frame without removing the exhaust but you have to loosen the 4 bolts holding the oil fill tube to get it pushed a little out of the way and you need to remove the ground bolt. Then if you spin it and **** it and curse just the right way it will come out. There are two bolts on the backside of the starter that must be removed to get at the sprag clutch so you have to remove it.

Oh and another lesson learned. The slip joint between the starter and the jack shaft in the primary fits either way but only works with the tapered end going into the starter side. The taper is small and hard to see if you’re not looking for it. If you put it in the wrong way you can’t get the jack staft pushed back into the primary all the way and you have to remove the starter to flip it around. Ask me how I know.