Hi great forum here
I have a 97 Heritage Springer
I went to start it, hit the button and just got a spining sound from the starter. I hit the button a few more times and it did engage.
The battery is 2 years old and checked out with a volt meter It was at about 12.5 volts with the lights on.
I did a search here on starter problems and found that the clutch is most often the problem.
I took my starter out and checked the clutch and I do not see any visable damage. Could it still be defective?
The pinnion and starter gear look fine. No bad springs. I did not see any thing missing or broken in the jack shat area.The pinnion gear fell off when I pulled the starter, I put it back on all looked OK
The plan of action now is to replace the starter and the battery.
Thank you
Ray S

 

I have limited experience with starter issues but the one thing I had was a broken clutch. It started just like your problem.

The battery might do that too but bear in mind a broken clutch can be a major pain in the tookus.