Hello, I have a 2005 Sportster 1200c. I am having spotty electrical issues. I have always had electrical issues with this bike going through batteries once a year. The first real issue I had was about a year and a half ago when I bought a cheap battery that had a very small terminal and I melted the terminal to nothing. I still can't figure out why it did that. Recently I when to start my bike and heard a click when I engaged the starter and the lights and everything went dead. I messed around with the battery cables and got the bike to light up again and then it was able to turn over. I ended up not riding to work because I didn't want to have that issue at work. When I got home I decided to tackle the issue and took the battery out and looked at all the cables to see if they were corroded. I could not find anything that needed anything more than a wire brush. I now can't get headlight on the bike to turn on or give me any signs that it is hooked up to the battery. I tested the battery and it was fine. I am now debating weather or not to take it into HD because I am out of solutions. I can hold my own mechanically, but when it comes to electrical I am up the creek. I did stumble into one thing that I think is a problem. I know the bike should be grounded but I am getting positive feel off of the bike. I checked this by hooking up the battery cables and touching my LED lights to different parts of the bike and they turn on... I don't know if thats normal or if I have a positive wire touching the frame at some point causing it to ground out. Before I spend the money to have it looked at I didn't know if anyone had any diagnostic tests or solutions that could be of help. Thanks for reading.

 

Sounds to me like you are getting intermittent ground continuity. You need to disconnect the battery's ground cable from the engine. Clean the cable end with a wire brush and sandpaper, coat with dielectric grease, and reattach. Actually, doing this on all cable ends would be a good idea.

 

Thanks. I did that and soldered the cable ends and it's back on the road. Thanks for the advice.