Get this harness, and buy one of those small lithium jumpstarters.
I've done the same thing , more than once, came back to a dead bike.
With this harness, just plug in the pack, and fire her up.
No need to take the seat off either.

 

I bet that 18 gauge wire got hot. In the 2015 Elect. Diagnostic manual to check starter draw you unhook the CKP so the bike won't start, put an amp clamp on the positive cable to the starter, put it in neutral and hit the start button. A reading under 250 amps means the starter is good.
J&P sells replacement battery cables for my 2014 Limited in both 2 and 4 gauge.

I had an instructor once that said everything Electrical is built with a certain amount of smoke inside. Once you let the smoke out it's ruined

 

.......... if the battery is so depleted that the logic circuits responsible for timing are ambiguous then push starting could be a problem. The battery is responsible for cranking - after that the rail voltage is established by the regulator/rect. Jump starting provides the 'off' voltage for the processor which commands everything.

 

AND you can lose a stator trying to charge a battery that's under performing.

Battery manufacturers LOVE kill switches because they kill a lot of batteries

 

thanks for all the imput...no security...in neutral...kickstand up and down...geez, I really don't think it is the battery....something not grounded...I don't know

 

Is there a fuse associated with the start switch? Could that be bad? Where is it?
Thanks again...I really like this forum.

 

I too turned off the engine by the kill switch and forgot to turn off the ignition switch. I was on top of a fairly big hill and tried roll starting my RG. That did not work. It sort of started and quickly burned through that bit of gas and would not stay started. I boosted the bike by hooking cables to the starter. That was easier as I did not have to take the seat off to get to the terminals. After it started I rode it gently for a while until the charging hand moderated. All is well.