I know there's multiple question and answers for Battery's but here's mine. I have a 91 Ultra Classic, I bought it used and the guy that had it said batt was about 2 yrs old and got it from advance auto's. Well, I noticed that bike was hard to start. Then one day it would even turn over, so I bought a battery tender and left it on for about a day and the next day It started up and drove it it work. Long story short. I left the batt tender on battery to keep it charged because it started getting cold where I live and bike is cover and outside. Went out this morning and pressed start switch and it like turn one time and nothing. But lights and all the electrical stuff worked. So I tried to jump it off and it did nothing and I have no lights now. My question is did I fry something or did the battery just completely die even though I tried jumping it? Oh I did buy a new batt this morning but I'm at work so I'll have to put it in tonight.

 

Your lights will still work even though there is not enough juice to turn over the engine, but they will not work if the battery is completely dead or the electrical connection is broken (Blown Fuse, Fried Starter, etc...). Cold batteries have less cranking amps and a cold engine can be harder to turn over.

If you jumped the motorcycle battery with a running car engine/battery then you may have fried your electrical system. Always jump from another motorcycle or if you have to, from a car battery with the car engine off.

I would take your old battery to an auto parts store and have them test it. If your new battery does not work, I would first check the main fuse and see if it's blown. If your fuses look good and it still does not work, you should look at the starter and the charging system for damage.

Good Luck!

 

Well stupid me, hooked up the jumper cables to the car and I forgot to tell my son to turn car off, so I hooked up the positive cable to Batt but when I hooked up negative cable it sparked but I didn't notice the nuteural and oil light was out until I un hooked the positive cable. Then, I took the old battery out and noticed on one side it was bulged out, then I took it to the harley shop and had them test it and the service guy said it was completely dead. I hope it's just a completely dead battery and nothing is fried. But when I get home tonight I'm putting Battery in and then go from there. Keep your fingers crossed it was just a really dead battery and I just drained it completely when I tuched the jumper cables to it.

 

Enodrano, I don't have the service manual at work with me, but where is the main fuse located? My battery on the 91 ultra classic is as you sit on bike it is on right side under the eng oil tank panel. In reference to the battery is the main fuse somewhere around the Battery or is it in the fuse box area?

 

You did not fry anything by jump starting the bike with the car engine running.

The car is a 12 volt system, same as the bike.

The amperage going through the electrical components is controlled by the size of the wire and the internal resistance of the component, it doesn`t matter how many amps are available.

 

You have two wires coming off the large post on the starter solenoid, one is the battery cable, the other wire will lead you to the main breaker.

 

Dan89FLSTC, I'll check that out in the morning. I kept thinking today that I have jumped my softail deluxe off with a car running before, but what keeps me thinking is when I hooked up the jumper cable to pos then the neg cable to a bolt on the frame it sparked, then I unhooked it, then hooked cable to neg post on batt then it sparked again and the neutral and oil light went out then I pressed starter switch then nothing happened, thats when I took battery out took it to the harley shop and the guy said it was completely dead and it wouldn't even hold a charge

 

That battery cable will pass enough current to weld metal. Most components' wires can pass more current than they can handle, you don't want appreciable resistance in a wire or it can get hot - and when you drop current but keep the voltage up, like too small a wire can do, electric motors run hot. Put too much current across that component's internal resistance, and if there's no fuse to blow, something's going to melt as that resistance creates more heat than it was designed for. A running car's alternator will feed up to it's max output (governed by it's regulator, not the bike's) to bring up the voltage in the bike's battery, and for a lot of cars, that's too much amperage for a Harley's system. It won't always fry anything, but if conditions are right, you'll have some expensive repairs.

You can jump a Harley off a monster truck battery as long as it's 12V and it's charging system is off; it's the alternator that damages weaker systems. There have been threads on this forum about guys that fried things jumping off a running car.

The safest and most convenient way, and the next best thing to a kickstarter backup, is carrying one of those tiny Lithium Ion jumper batteries. I like the Anti Gravity brand because they sell a heavy duty Battery Tender compatible pigtail that's a snap to hook the jumper battery to. They work good, I've used mine on a V6 and my 1200 Sportster.

 

I'm putting new battery in tomorrow morning. But I went out and took left side panel off and seat to see where the fuse box was and it wasn't in either spot. Where is the fuse box at on a 91 Electra Glide Ultra Classic? Would it be under the front fairing?

 

I've only heard of 3 places, where you already looked and behind the headlight on some bikes with batwing fairings. Let us know if everything works ok with the new battery, just curious. And good luck; most of the time something like this is just the battery.