I live in CT, winter is over, (hopefully) today was 58 an sunny. ... pulled the 04 fatboy out, ..found a dead beyond dead battery, it wouldnt take a charge. ...took other battery ....new but been in basement for 4 years, ...charged it....12v it took awhile but it took the charge and read 12 and change on the volt meter. put it in.....turned her on.....everything lit up. . . .the sound of the injectors brought a warm feeling of fun to come. , . . hit the start switch and ....."click" everything died, headlights and all. ...after practicly getting taken out by oncoming traffic last week when the rear diff on the explorer went.....im not a happy camper rite now.

Someone please run me a lengthy checklist.

 

new battery

 

Several days ago I rode out to meet a couple buddies for lunch. When we finished and I went to start the bike everything lit up fine, (I always wait until the fuel pump primes) but when I hit the button all I got was a 'click' and all lights went black. Turned out it was the connection at the positive side of the battery. Tightened it up and was good to go.

That little story was to say:

After making sure that your connections are clean and tight, pull the battery and take it to AutoZone, Advance Auto, etc and have them do a test on the battery.

 

i hijacked my brother's bike's battery, though it is a sports bike, its still a 12v battery, 1/4 smaller, i figured it would tell me whats up, The same thing happened. everything lit up bright, injectors sound strong, (always wait for the light to go off) and the same result, everything dies with a loud "click", Im not dumb (but not smart) electrical is not my field,. I am assuming the next step would be the actual connections at the starter?

 

i am on my way to autozone by the way

 

swapped the two batteries for a discounted new one plus a few bucks, ...put it in, everything lights up injectors prime, hit start and the starter engages disengages engages disengages, right when it hits the power stroke, all the lights flicker why this happens, i think i will ground to the frame and supply power directly to the starter. this should rule out any wires and point to the starter itself, after the bike has been sitting all winter i noticed the oil in the oil pan is almost gone, ...thinking the bike is hydro locked as all the oil is in the case, i pulled the spark plugs out and turned her over and everything runs normal, the starter engages and turns the motor over and over, wtf,. . .

 

batt reads 12.75v in....11.5v with bike set to ign...9.5v when trying to crank....pulled power cable off starter. . .cleaned it...reinstalled it....still same problem.......bypassed the starter relay (1"cube in fuse box) .....bike tries to run the second you put it in ignition. so that works. . . . .....someone.......help.