2000 XLH883 - I am original and only owner, purchased new in September 1999. In California.
Has 24,xxx miles. Purchased factory service manual and parts manual.

I begin
1. Key on odometer flashes repeatedly, sorta fast.
2. New Everstart battery, battery tests at 13.5 volts.
3. When I turn key to ON (before pressing starter button) - the volt meter at battery goes to ZERO. (AHH!).
4. Before I had tested with volt meter I would get to key on and press start button and either get a click then nothing, or nothing.

The factory service manual has a decision tree (Starting System Diagnostics) that includes testing terminal 87 on the relay.
Terminal 87 drops to zero volts with key on, and with starter button pressed.
There are many tests on this page, terminal 30, Terminal 86 for ground, etc..

I removed the battery, connected OHM meter to Negative cable, then to the post on top of starter (called the Motor Terminal).
I expected this to have infinite resistance but got zero OHM's, so the starter motor terminal is grounded.

I disconnected the large wire on top of starter (Motor Terminal), this should be the wire that carries positive voltage to the starter
from the solenoid, when the solenoid is engaged.
Then I connected a battery charger (only 6 amps) to the battery cables (remember, no battery is installed), volt meter on
the battery cables, (still disconnected main wire on top of starter).
Now with key on the voltage does not drop to zero.
Pressing the start button makes the relay click, just as I would expect the starter relay to do.
The odometer still flashes repeatedly, but the headlight shows good and strong.

So what I am getting to here is that it seems the solenoid is shorted, has worn brushes, or maybe the starter and the
solenoid are both bad.

I was originally going to spend the weekend testing the charging system and regulator because the recent months of not starting
seemed to be a charging issue, but now I think it is shorted starting circuit parts.

With the key on and a fully charged battery going to zero volts (full load on the battery) I think there is a major short circuit.
Can anybody confirm this ? Anyone have this happen to them ?

Really looking for hopeful answers before spending $400 on a starter, and all that work, removing exhaust, removing primary
cover, new gaskets, new seals. Quite a bit of work.

Thank you everyone.

 

I pulled the Sportster starter for bench testing. The book calls for a Pull-In test.
I attached a picture with the terminals labeled and numbered.
I numbered them as the factory service manual does.

So, you ground terminals 1 (solenoid body) and 2 (motor terminal), then run positive to 3 (relay terminal).
This test failed.

So I ran a continuity check and found this:
1, 2, 3, 4 all have zero ohms and full continuity and no resistance.

The only terminal that appears to not be connected to the other four terminals is the one labeled #5 the Battery terminal.

I opened the solenoid and the brushes are not worn down, and it looks really clean inside.
That does not mean it is not bad, but I am sort of stumped. Is this normal behavior or is it a bad solenoid (and/or starter)?

Just hoping someone knows more than me and can tell me to buy a new starter and move on.

So much stuff has to come apart to do this job. I want to get it back together.

Thanks all.

 

Have the battery load tested. My brand new two month old 2014 Custom showed a full charge but had a bad cell.

 

 

Can you get the starter to kick over on the bench?