Plug your VIN into HD.com and see if you can find your wiring diagram.

The document is out there somewhere!

Sorce

 

Every time over the years my bike was completely dead it was a ground issue.

 

It looks like you are missing a wire that should go to the positive side of the battery, heavy guage for the starter motor. The blue wire is not large enough to carry the current needed to turn the starter.

Why are the blue and braided ground wires connected together ? Did you connect them to the battery like that ?

 

This^

IIRC there should be a large wire from + on the battery directly to the starter and a smaller wire also on the + to a circuit breaker that runs accessory power and power to the starter button/starter relay. I could be wrong, but that once red/now blue wire should go to positive. No other wires to the - post of the battery other than the ground strap. Thoughts?

 

I gave up after his response on page 2.
Get some help, you have no idea what your doing, and that wiring is a mess. Once you get it working, you will need to polarize the generator. If you can't do this, you'll never get that right.
Sorry, but it's obvious.

 

Not to overly simplify this but
AIR
FUEL
SPARK

Thats all you need to run a motor.

If this was my project
a. oil down the cylinders. New wires, plugs fluids, filters. Id also flush the old stuff out
b. Rebuild the carb
c. Temporary fix what you can see on the electrical system - wrap up chaffed wires
d. Change battery leads and any other obvious stuff
e. Diagnose the electrical system
f. Do you have power - Yes, then do you have spark. No. figure out where you are short

This is what I would do. Everyone has a different perspective..

 

OP's over his head with this, with the pushback so far over just a power wire being in the wrong place and quibbling over the color what do you think will happen with all the inevitable oil, intakes leaks, pulling the primary apart to unstick the clutch pack and other tweaks & adjustments to the engine & clutch that have to made if it ever does fire. Bet money old 38 year oil is still sitting in that engine, trans & primary and he's trying to start it first.

OP I wish you luck on this I really do and many of us in here have long time experience with just what you are doing but we can't help you if you aren't willing to listen to and follow through on that help. It's pretty cut & dried short cuts and " mostly " aren't going to get you there with a bike that's been sitting 4 decades.

 

OP, Twizted is 100% correct. Look at the blue wire you connected to the ground strap - note the difference in size. Does that seem right to you?

You came here to the "brain trust" to get answers. I know the answers you're receiving aren't what you were hoping for, but the blue wire you put in shown in the pictures show very clearly just how "over your head" you really are - no offense meant whatsoever. Stop trying to fix it and bring it to someone who knows a bit more than you, or slow WAY down and get the firsthand information you need (via manuals), take your time, and put the damned electrical tape away (electrical tape isn't your friend here).

 

Save yourself a ton of headaches. Get this, and start over.
https://www.jpcycles.com/product/360...m-wire-harness

 

Are all the wires blue?