Well it's either the red wire or the black wire, 4-bolts, one of them loose.

You can do this. Tighten the bolts at both ends.

 

The answer is right in front of you... you just need to find it and it can be a pain in the ***. Electrical trouble shooting is a painstakingly slow methodical process... you have to creep up on each wire separately and even if it seems to be tight re-tighten it. As mentioned above... start with each connection to the battery... that where the electric part of the bike starts. Lots of times the battery terminals seem just fine but there is a short somewhere... re-tighten them. If you lifted on the battery and the bike started, I would follow each wire from each terminal and see where it may be touching something when the battery is set back down.

 

Seems like I'm going to spend quite some time in the garage this afternoon looking at wires

 

You know where it is. Shouldn't take that long. Start at the battery. Just make sure that anything you do is done right. I don't even want to think about the times I have had to fix someone else's problem looking or working on the problem.

 

My wifes bike had similar symptoms one time. Turned out to be a loose ground connection from the battery to the frame. It could handle the low load from the acc switch but would lose connection from the heavier load that occurs when attempting to start the bike.

 

If it's arcing enough to make a snapping noise, should be some visible signs at the point where the arcing took place.

 

You only have a couple of wires coming from the battery. If all the connections are good and snug, it may possibly be the terminal on the battery itself. If you can lift the battery and stop the problem, you don't have much to check. Even if the connections are tight, you could have a defect within the wire itself. Wire and connectors are cheap to replace.

 

MAke sure your battery terminals are good and tight. Sounds just like what my buddy had with his Sportster and I tracked it down to that. If not, you should see some signs of the arching or sparking at some terminal or connection. Good luck and keep us posted.

BTW, even if your terminals are tight on the battery, it could be a broke plate inside of the battery. Next time this happens, hold down your starter button as you shake your battery.

 

Based on your description I would highly recommend that you take the bike to a qualified technician. I would say that this is NOT a problem for someone that by their own admission, does not know much about bikes to be messing with.

The problem is most likely to be a loose wiring connection . . . . but . . . . with all your talk about sparks and such . . . there is a very, and I do mean very, remote possibility that you could cause the battery to explode. As I say, this is an extremely low probability. But it does happen, and due to the nature of the downside of this scenario (basically like a small frag grenade going off) it really isn't worth the risk . . . in my opinion.

 

I took the battery cover off and did the same. I lifted the battery and I saw sparks coming out from the cable on the left (negative I believe). The dealer has one available spot in a week but I'd have to take it there anyway. I'm not sure if it's worth trying to fix it myself...what Bluehighways said scares me a little.