I own a '72 Sportyand recently redid the wiring front to back according to shop manual.
My problem is this,when I turn on the bike the gen light comes on as it should then I push the starter button and hear a click from the relay in back but the starter doesn't crank. I put a meter on the short post of the solenoid to ground when doing this and register 11volts dc (I read somewhere that loosing 1 volt is normal). Also put a pair of jumper cables between battery positive and the starter and that cranked it. I've tried shorting the smaller starter button post to the long post to manually trigger the solenoid, also no good, though it also registered 11 volts dc at the starter. I have replaced the solenoid. The old one had a shim between the mounting spot and the actual solenoid so I reused in the replacement. Has anyone experienced this and how do I solve it.
Having worked on this system I now understand more about a solenoid then ever before, but have a question of what is the rod sticking out the back of the unit do? Maybe the shim is wrong is all I can guess.

 

Check the voltage across your battery terminals, it should be around 12.6. Anything less than that could cause your problem.

 

You might repost this over in the ironhead forum, lots of knowledge over there.

Bob

 

I was having the same problem. Try running a wire form neg battery post to ground on regulator. If this works, look for nyloc fasteners aned replace them with regulars nuts and washers.