Motorcycle Repair: 77 Sporster with sticking starter & hot front cylinder, starter solenoid, vacuum leak

Question
Hello Mike, My 77 Sporster quite often when being started will
go into a state where the starter is spinning (not turning over
the motor) and cannot be stopped. Even turning off the key will
not stop it from spinning. By the time I grab a wrench to
dissconnect the battery it magically stops. I have also noticed
that when the bike is warmed up. the idle is extremely high and
the front cylinder is getting a lot hotter than the rear cylinder
(also proved by how much bluer the front pipe is). The bike is
new to me but I can tell the previous owner has at least replaced
all of the intake gaskets recently. I don't know a thing about
Harleys but I think problem #1 might be the starter relay - and
problem #2 is either a vacuum leak on the front cylinder intake
manifold - or timing - or carb adjustment, but I would greatly
appreciate any advice you might have. I bought a tech book for
my bike and it doesn't even tell you where the starter relay is
located! Thanks Todd

Answer
Your starter relay sounds like its working. I would suspect that its the starter solenoid that is bad.
If the bike is ideling to high, locate the idle screw on the carb by the cable and turn it down a little. As to the front cylinder getting hotter, check the intake manifolf for a leak. It cant be the carb, it feeds both cylinders.
Good luck and happy riding
mike