Had a gorgeous 65 deg. Spring day for the first in a long time and my main ride was dead. I could hear the starter relay clicking but nothing else. The Battery was relatively new but I pulled the seat anyway and found a not surprising 12.6 volts. I pulled out the manual and with my not so great electrical skills I found power at the main post on the starter solenoid but nothing at the center ( smaller ) post! I'm far from an expert but this was looking like a starter relay but the clicking was coming from a hard to reach place under the battery in front of the rear fender!!! I pulled the console off the speedometer and again with my very limited skills found power normal everywhere up there.
I was pretty sure this was a relay or less likely a bad wire. My bike has a stainless steel plate at the bottom of the rear fender with 4 Bolts ( kind of a bitch ) but I got access to the relay. I pulled a relay out of a car in the driveway and my ride jumped to life!!!.
By now it was 3 pm on a Sunday and the HD dealer would be closed before I got there. I went to Autozone and bought a RL 44 relay rated at 40 amps at 12.8 volts. same as the one I stole out of the car. I went and got my fix and 40 miles and 3 or 4 starts later all was fine. Do any of you electrical gurus know if I'm ok, I don't want to screw with taking off that plate again. Is the auto relay good. Please answer only if you are an expert and know if my $7.00 fix will last, no guesses from those who know even less then me please!

 

I would have started by charging the battery first, as yours was down on power. If you don't use one I recommend getting a battery tender, which you can leave plugged into your bike while not risding it. That is especially important, to give good battery life, if you live in Northern climes. Otherwise it sounds as if all is well. Most of the electrical stuff on our bikes is auto-based.

 

Thank you for the response! I have a Ctek 3300. I will now stop sneaking out to the garage to see if the damn thing still starts!

 

That's a good idea! Starting and not going for a ride knocks the battery back a bit, but doesn't recharge it, after it put in all that effort!