Two years ago I started having idling and running issues with my 91 Sportster 1200. Without going into that issue, I have been putting the bike back together. My old battery was dead, so I bought a new one from autozone and I installed it a little bit ago. Upon trying to turn the power on for my bike, nothing that gets power is turning on. I have no idea what is going on. I am installing the battery out of the bike. There is a pic below of how I wired in cables.

What can I do to check from this point as to why nothing is getting power? My bike's key is on the tank. The part I replaced was the carb....could there be something under the tank that is associated with the power key?

Any help or suggestions for tests would be appreciated. I tested the bikes voltage and it is just over 12 volts.

 

The battery is discharged. Put the bike in first and push to make sure engine is free. Then put a low under 2 amp maintenance charger on it for 8-10 hours.
Have you forgotten to flip the kill on the bars to on?



Rev. 03-29-17
Some electrical 101 and a little more..

Remember, the best made brand new battery that has been on a maintenance charger for 3 days that has a loose or bad connection is no better then a boat anchor with a loose rope. The connection can get loose after one ride if the battery is not anchored and the wires are short and get tugged in a direction that can unscrew the bolts.

After a good 24+ hour maintenance low amperage (never over 2 amp) charge, with the charge light in the solid green and the battery has set about 24 hours off charge, voltage should be about 12.8 volts.
You can speed up this process by turning on the ignition key (headlight comes on) for ~3 seconds and then switch it back off. This is enough of a load to bleed off the excess residual charge from the charger and then you can measure the battery voltage.

12.8 = fully charged
12.6 = 75% charged
12.3 = 50% charged (Lot of new modern cars with system protection will not even click at this point but will have good headlight beams showing)
12.0 =25% charged

Always check both the terminals at the battery lead and also at the terminal on the wire. That helps to verify connection. With a DC volt meter (one that has a feature to lock high and low reading is best) hooked across the battery terminals and reading 12.8 or so, crank motor and while its cranking it should not drop below about 9.6 volts and as soon as it starts and throttled up to 2000 rpm, voltage should read around 14.8 volts. The 2000 rpm is the bench mark standard. Ignore idle output. Ignore output above 2000rpm unless it exceeds 14.9 volts. That is a sure indication that regulator is bad.

The crank check shows a rough check of the reserve amperage capacity of the battery while cranking with a 150-200 amp load on it. The 14.8 shows a good alternator and if you leave it on a while as the regulatory will drop the voltage a little showing itself working. However, with the lights and stuff always on, it will never drop back much. If you have a lot of options, most modern bikes will not show 14.8 charging volts at idle but stock newer bikes will be close. Older bikes with lower amperage output not so much. However, 2000 rpm is the bench mark for the standard 14.8 volts.

If the voltage is only about 13 volt DC at 2000 RPM, the AC volts stator may be shorted or bad. Unlike the regulator, this is an easy check with an AC meter. Check that the two or three legs do not go to frame ground and that the ohm resistance across all combinations of checks are within an ohm of what is called out in the service manual. Also check the AC volts coming from them at 2000 rpm.
Be cautious here since you can kill yourself with this much AC volts. You need a service manual or look you spec up on line for your unique bike. I have seen about 3 verations over the last 20 years of Harleys due to ever increasing output.

If you think battery is good and something is draining it sitting, now would be a good time to check for drain problems. Go to Harbor Freight and get you a AC/DC meter for under $25 or so. http://www.harborfreight.com/ac-dc-d...ter-37772.html Make sure it has DC amps draw, DC voltage, resistance and AC voltage. Key off. Remove the negative cable off the battery. Set meter on DC amps. Hook the meter lead to cable and the other to battery. !!Key off.do not turn on!! Ignore that first draw as the alarm trims back and stuff charges for 1 minute. Now, how many milliamps (mA) is it drawing? It should be no more then 6 mA which is the ECM (1), speedometer (1), tac, TSSM (1), HFSM (1) and voltage regulator (1)


When a battery wears out, a good charge will show fairly good voltage, but the battery can still have very low amperage capacity which will show in the crude crank test above, but it really should be checked after a good charge by removing it from bike and getting a free check at a place like AutoZone that has a fancy load meter check that gives you a print out of the battery health. Battery MUST BE CHARGED to check it. Be sure they set their meter to correct cold cranking amperage stated on the battery. Never charge the AGM absorbed glass mat battery with a regular car battery charger unless it is a newer one that says safe with this type of battery. Also, by taking battery out you now know you have good connections. Vibration tends to loosen the connections or a little corrosion will prevent charging or cause starting problems. Be forwarned, these checks quite often are incorrect due to the low amperage of these small batteries and junk checking equipment. If bike is charging, no load on battery when key is off and you are still having problems…REPLACE THE BATTERY. If battery is more then 3-4 years old.. REPLACE THE BATTERY.

Using the maintenance charger can get more years from a battery but be careful here. You do not want the last start 5 miles from home. If it still grunts when you first hit starter or kicks back with a bang, replace it. After a few years, charge and pull battery and have it checked for cold cranking amperage ever spring. Even then, if it grunts most ever start, I would replace it. Most battery checkers at AutoZone and places like that do not do really well on the low amperage setting on small batteries. Not sure why but they tend to say they are OK when they are weak. If they have one that fits your bike, Wal-Mart's AGM absorbed glass mat battery is just as good as any for one third to half the money of a Harley Battery. My last 4 years befor it started grunting. And out it came. Do not put an old fashion one with vent tubes on a modern TC Harley. Do not jump, push start or run bike with a half dead battery except in a real emergency. If a bike battery is down and you jump it, throwing all that amps to it from a big car battery especially one that is running can wreck a bike regulator or charging system. Charging a worn out battery can kill alternator stator or the voltage regulator or both. Probably ending in a big dollar repair in parts alone.

It is also a good idea to always check your battery at 2000 RPM with your meter set to AC. If by chance, the regulator goes bad, sometimes it will let AC come thru. That is a sure sign of a bad regulator. Older 2 wire stators have a single-phase output while the newer stators with 3 wires have a 3 phase output. The 3 phase system provides a more consistent and higher current output to the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator takes the AC from the alternator, rectifies it to DC and limits the voltage level to the battery depending on the voltage reading it gets back from the battery.

Also remember, when starting a Harley, hit the starter and hold it in till it is firing on both cylinders and running before letting up. If you let up before it’s running, quiet often, it actually take an FI motor longer to start. There is a fraction of a second more for a long stroke Harley then a multi-cylinder car for it to get going. If you do not do this, it will kick back with a bang, sneeze thru the intake or crank a lot longer the second time or shame on you the third time. Also, if you have a habit of doing this, the starter solenoid switch contact will only have half the life it could. You cannot hurt the starter. The starter gear has a sprag clutch. There are drive pins in it that as the gas motor catches and run, it outruns the starter motor drive and disengages it from the electric motor. If you hold it in a little too long and listen carefully, you will hear the sprag clutch run up the ramps and slip. Makes a sizzle hum. This will show you your starter sprag clutch is OK.

My batteries:
11-05-03 Originial Harley 3 years
08-07-06 Harley 6.5 years (nursed way too long and was grunting and banging often)
04-29-13 Walmart Ever Start 4 years (grunting)
03-25-17 AutoZone Duralast Gold

 

Have you checked your main fuse?. No telling what got bumped when you changed carbs

 

Even though the battery is brand new, it still needs charged? It read 12 volts?

The switch on the bars is in the middle position... Not run or engine stop.

Where is the main fuse at?

 

Did you read what I said in post 2 about voltage? However, with 12.3 or so, you should have lights.

Not sure what you mean by middle position.

Look in your fuse box. Probably 4 fuses. That 1/2 of a dogbone bracket holds the main above the small fuses. Lower to the bottom left is the start relay.
My service manual says it is behind left cover. However, not totally sure you have any small fuses. As you follow thru the years, it was like Harley was trying new things ever year.

 

Yes, I read your post. Thanks by the way - there was a lot of useful information there. I am getting nothing though, not one bit of power. I was mistaken about the bar switch.. it is on the engine run setting.

I also do not think that I have fuses, at least none that I can see. I took off the cover next to the battery and what I found was an ignition box. The bike formerly belonged to my dad. At one point all of the wiring caught on fire and he rewired the bike completely, so it may be different than normal. I just don't get it because the electric worked fine before I put it away two years ago and it has been garage kept since.

So, what I did was make a short video to help any diagnoses suggestions you guys could offer.

PS - I saw this in another forum... didn't know if it would help ....


The following is a quote from the factory service manual
"(1986-1997 MODELS)
All 1986-1997 models use circuit breakers to protect the
electrical system. Circuit breaker ratings for the various circuits
are listed in Table 1.
Whenever a failure occurs in any part of the electrical
system, each circuit breaker is self-resetting and will automatically
return power to the circuit when the electrical
fault is corrected.
CAUTION
If an electrical fault on circuit-breaker
equipped models is not found and corrected,
the breakers will cycle on and off
continuously. This will cause the motorcycle
to run erratically and eventually discharge
the battery."
If the breakers are not resetting, maybe you still have a grounded wire? The breakers are located under the seat to the rear. Also, have you checked the cut-off switch on the right handlebar? Maybe that wire is open or grounded(or the switch is off--it happens) According to the book, there are no fuses on your year model (later models have them).

 

I have a service manual and I saw the same. It does show fuses for some but it showed this for your year under the left side cover.
You are simply going to have to trace the wires. Something I cannot do from here. However, we can keep you post on top maybe till a Sporty expert comes along who has one and it all in his head. I only have the Service manual and it's pretty sorry since it is for 1983-2003.
Take a few pictures of behind the covers and under the seat so I can see what you are seeing. Do you have a good DC volt/ohm meter and a small solid state charger?

 

Yes, I have a trickle charger and a micrometer. Not sure what the DV stands for. Also unsure if it is a HDI model. I believe it is the XL model.

I took pictures as you requested. Where should I start testing? I have never done any sort of electrical testing other than voltage on a battery, so I am pretty ignorant in this regard.

Any other images or if you need a video, just let me know. Thanks!

 

That DV was meant to be DC. The HDI was international. I thought is had something to do (without thinking) to the ignition. You surely have the USA domestic.
Put your DC meter on DC and hook black wire (-) to the negative on the battery. (I grew up on point ignition but it's been a long time and all that stuff is hanging on my garage wall collector's item)
Now in your last picture which is your breaker, make sure you are getting the exact DC volts that your battery show across the two terminals to each side of those breakers.

For example. Check what your batter shows. Should be around 12.6 or so after a good charge after it sits a few hours. (if bike was working, turning the lights on for just a second makes battery show what it really is)

Now with that reading check what you get from a good frame ground to each side of those 8 connections. Should be same as the battery. Get back to me if it is not. The connections could be bad or even the connector to the wire crimp could be corroded. We also need to check connections to where the + wire off the battery goes to probably on the starter. Also the negative ground to where it goes on the frame but do it second check.


That little black box p/n 2637 is your start relay I think.

My guess is you do not have 12 volts on each side of the red wire ignition breaker.

 

Before battery hook-up: 12.65v

battery negative hook-up only: 12.65v

Battery positive and negative hook-up: 12.61v

I tested the other items you suggested. I couldn't find an alternative ground on my bike because the frame is painted black, so I used the batteries ground. I am unsure what all you needed and how to do it so I made a video. It seems as if it all tedted the same as the battery...

https://youtu.be/3aM5I5B5hKg