I have a 1993 Sportster 1200 Anniversary edition that I have not ridden in years (I'm female, 67 years young). Took the bike to a "friend" who went through the entire bike and got her ready so I could put her up for sale. The battery is supposed to be new but it just clicks and the blinkers don't work anymore, but here's the problem: the battery terminals look like someone blew them off with a shotgun! I don't know what happened and for the life of me I don't know where to start on fixing it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

That is the product of loose and oxidized conections, the fix is a new battery and a wire brush or sandpaper to clean off the conections

 

That looks like there was a direct short across the battery causing the lead terminals to melt. That is really bad. It has nothing to do with corrosion or loose terminals. That battery was shorted!!!!!! Was the battery installed backward?, Or maybe a metal piece was allowed to touch the terminals, causing a serious short circuit?

 

That is definitely a short. Those are lead posts that have melted. Now to find the cause. Definitely need a new battery and check for a bad short. Agreed, not a corrosion problem.

 

No,Tozco and Stinger1, it is definitely not a short...

It is a classic symptom of a loose connection, nothing more.

Don`t believe me?

Go out to your bike, loosen the battery terminal and hit the starter and see what happens.

This isn`t a guess, it is 50 years experience...

The correct answer was post #2.

 

I just contacted my cousin who works at the Deka plant. He said it's definitely a short.

 

From a distance and based on pictures:

That is an aftermarket battery.
An aftermarket battery requires the use of spacers.

The spacers are the brass looking washer things like on + post in picture.

Sometimes an installer will not read instructions and forget to use the spacers.
Without using the spacers the cables will sit at an angle and feel tight but the vibration will make them loose.

The loose cables will generate significant heat with each start.
The heat melts the posts.

In that picture it looks like someone abused that battery for a long time.
When they destroyed the positive post they went back and drilled into the positive post vertically and installed a stud to further abuse the battery.

Another item that looks like a witness mark in picture would be the melted black plastic area just as it meets grey plastic near the post..exact location that battery cable will rest at an angle when the spacers are not used.

In the end it means that electrical system needs to be tested and a new battery will be required.

 

I will add loose cables to my short list of things that can melt battery terminals. But in my almost fifty years of riding and wrenching, I've never seen it!

 

Looks to me like a battery charger issue? Battery is junk. Hope nothing else got fried?

 

Happened to me,loose positive cable on my '09 cross bones burnt the lug plum off. Isn't much lead there to begain with. Might have something to do with whatever her "friend"did.