I recently bought my father's 1999 sportster 1200c and I'm in the process of attempting to get it up and running. The bike has been sitting for almost two years since he never sold it (asked him to hold onto it for me while I was in iraq). Before he bought his new bike, he was having starter problems with this one. He says that when he took it in he was told it was the starter motor clutch. When I swapped in a new battery to give the starter a listen, it wasn't making a spinning sound as I had thought it would but more of a fast clicking noise. I'm not a big mechanic type of person and at this point I am going to just take it into a shop to get it fixed. I just have no idea about what kind of money someone should be expecting to spend to get a bike that has been sitting for that long up and running. I don't want to get taken for a ride when I take it to the shop. Any input would be highly appreciated.

 

Probably more labor that parts.
Could be just contacks in the solinoid need replacing. Thats a thing that connects the battery (big wires) to the starter when you push the start switch (little wires). A relay really.