I was on a riding my 2001 XL 1200C (Sportster)&nbsp\\;the other night and my speedo needle dropped to 0 mph and then returned back to the speed I was traveling. This happened about 3 times in a 30 minute period. I also noticed the lights dimming. During my ride I also smelled a burning electrical smell. I got home and parked it in the garage. Went out the next day to try and start it up. The selenoid on the starter made a clicking sound and then the electrical system went dead. My first thought was the altenator or battery was bad. I pulled off the seat to access the battery and noticed an inline fuse on the posistive battery terminal and also noticed that it had melted on one side because it had gotten against the cylinder head. I pulled out the fuse and examined it. It was not burnt. I reinserted it and my bike fired up with no issues. Has anyone ever had this issue and do I have anything to be concerned about?

i have seen positve battery cables on older ridgid mount sportsters completely corrode and break at the heat shrink.. ohm your + cable and see if its less than 1 ohm. if not yank on the cable and it will probably break loose.

Thought I would give an update on my electrical problems.&nbsp\\;I broke down and took my Sportster into the dealership and it turned out to be simply that the postive battery cable was not making a good connection to the battery. They put a shim on the post and it&nbsp\\;is doing fine now.
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I also thought I would share the funny thing that happened at the dealership. When the mechanic took the first look at it he exclaimed "Well thats the problem, you have an aftermarket battery on here, you need to put a Harley battery on here." I then replied that the battery was the one that was on the bike when you sold it to me less than month ago :-) Thats when they were more than happy to put the shim on the post.