You need an old Ford fender mount starter relay wired to the bottom of the battery tray. And to harden the f*ck up. Its a shovel. What did you expect? But...once its sorted...you will have a bike no one understands..or rides...or wants...I can say that. I have one.

 

There are plenty of us that ride and want them...it is just that few can truly understand!

 

VERY NICE!!! I wondered if they made a FLH in 1984. Yours looks new.

 

Terminology(sp) can get confusing here.

On his 84 he will have a Starter Relay (BocshType on 80 and later) almost looks like a small silver box. Starter switch energizes the Relay coil, then passes 12 volts to activate Starter Soleiniod

The Solenoid does two things, Passes 12 vdc from the battery Big Wires to the starter. Second Moves the bendix to engage the starter to ring gear on the clutch basket to turn the motor.

So you can't use an old fender mount Ford Truck Soleniod, you could spin the starter with it but not start your bike. You could use it to replace the small solid state starter relay, maybe. But I do not see any advantage. BTW way I have two 66 Ford trucks so I know the exact fender mount Soleiniod your talking about and they are hard to beat, used alot of places.

To me a Shovelhead is what a Harley should be, Definilty what one should sound like. We know you love yours. Good thing is you can replace the whole wring harness for 150 bucks and a Saturday.


I tired to post the 84 FLH Wiring diagram(PDF). The one a few post above is for a FLT it is probally pretty close but not the same bike. I can email the file or if some knows how to put it on here or wants it. Size was way to big.

 

Cannot get the diagram big enough to post...

 

thanks for all the input..
we are making progress...
.
put a good battery on it, hooked a volt meter to the starter, and gave it a go..
hardly any voltage getting thru the solenoid to the starter, and as mentioned earlier I cracked it yesterday. So, i took it off..and it smelt burnt.
.
I'm thinking I'm gonna need to drop that exhaust to get the new solenoid on, that bottom bolt was a pain. I'm thinking i may need to drop the exhaust to get the solenoid back on. And after having a look, it appears that the exhaust is one piece?
kinda dark in the barn, need better lighting. so any insight on getting the new solenoid on would be appreciated.
And per the suggestions ,,, gonna swap the starter relay to.
.
the bike has a bit less than 10,000 miles, and per the prev owner, they believe it sat for about 12 years.
the VIN shows it to be a FLH-80. beautiful machine.
.
thanks so much for the suggestions/recommendation/inspiration. invaluable!

 

Sounds like a great bike. Post up a picture, would like to see it. Here is P/N for the Manual 99482-84. Good Luck.

 

Try the Ford style relay...and make sure you got a good, clean ground for the battery. I"m not in the mood to argue with others about the merits of heavy grounds, better relays, etc. If you decide to remove the solenoid, the exhaust will be in the way. But thats o.k. because the primary cover is coming off to properly do that job anyway. You really need an HD shop manual for that bike, and to listen to the "Grey Beards" trying to help you.

 

V-Twin carries the starter relays; All ***** carries replacement solenoid as well as rebuild kits. I would recommend staying away from Accell.

Once you get the heat shield off, remove the bolt that secures the exhaust to the primary, loosen the two muffler clamps and slide the muffle to the rear. There is also a lower cover/heat shield that will have to be removed as well. No need to undo the short pipe coming out the exhaust. The center section should just slide out and give you access to the solenoid bolts.

Damn, just 10 k on it? Original speedo? that is indeed low for an 84. So.......since you are talking the bike up, now you need to post a pic (or two 0r three) to show us this gem...please!

 

84-Shovel,,,pretty sad picture!,,hmm,,, what am i doing wrong?