I worked on a friends 99 Road King yesterday and the battery hold down was not doing it's job. Both positive and negative terminals were loose and the terminal on the positive side was melted. It had just enough thread left to put on the bolt. Not only was the battery unsecured, the battery cables and terminals were hitting up against the frame. The plastic on the underside of the seat was melted, too. Of course there were melted wires.

I clean it up enough to get it to the shop (because he wanted it to go to the shop for routine maintenance) and I said "Here you go, take it back to the guy that installed all of your L.E.D. lights."

*** Just a reminder, check your battery cables every now and then ***

Good Luck!!!!!

 

Sounds like the wrong size battery was installed. The terminals on a battery made for the bike shouldn't touch anything.

 

mmm beeer

 

He bought a new aftermarket sealed Harley replacement battery last year and whoever put it on also installed the extender ferrules on the battery cable screws and that's what was touching the frame. With the battery hold down clamped down securely there was about 3/8" space between the head of the bolt and the frame. The negative side had melted a hole in the wiring harness. The positive side had melted the battery terminal. The battery clamp had either just vibrated loose or it was never tightened down. The aux lights were also connected to the battery terminals and of course those were melted. I'd say it was close to being a fire hazard. It wouldn't have taken much.

 

Nor do some people realize there is a limit to what the charging system can take. I know people that have every light, bell and whistle imaginable hay-wired in with boat trailer wiring connectors and then wonder why their alternator keeps conking out. Lights under your gas tank, frame and on the fenders may look cool, but it just puts extra loads on the already barely adequate charging system.

Most people run around with their passing lamps on all the time and they draw 15 amps all by themselves. Why not go ahead and install fender skirts, big mudflaps and coon-tails on the antennae while your at it. Maybe another couple of mirrors too.

There should be nothing on the main battery terminals but the main battery cables. Ancillary junk can be added on the main circuit breaker connection and that should be kept to a minimum. I can't stand to remove a seat off a bike and see 3-4 different wires running off the main battery cable connections. This usually means redneck ***** has been in there adding lights, air horns or some other gadgets. I have also found fuses melted into the fuse holder. These guys usually say....he!! man, I kept blowing that fuse so I just increased the size.

You can burn one down if you try hard enough and the battery in a bagger is a tight fit anyway.

 

I won't disagree with most of what you are saying. But many electrical accessory instructions advises the installer to attach their devices main lead directly to the battery.......etc.

What's needed is for the installer to apply some common sense as to whether there is a gaggle of wires already terminating on the positive terminal and find an alternative connection point if adding another wire creates a hazard.

Jim

 

Understood...some of these devices do require direct battery power. It's easy enough to run a bus lead off the battery to an auxiliary barrier strip for those lights, amplifiers, radar detectors, tuners, battery tender pigtails, GPS systems, electronic shifters, air-horns, or whatever.

I totally agree there is a right way to do it, but I just hate pull off a seat and see a wad of wires stuck between the main battery cables and the battery terminals, or those blue plastic connectors where somebody has spliced something into a hot lead.

The main + battery cable runs right down to that lug on the starter, which is also a good place to attach something with a properly crimped/soldered ring-terminal and it has a boot on it to cover it all up. ALL of it does not have to be connected at the battery terminal.

 

Here are a couple better ways to hook up electrics:
http://www.aerostich.com/powerpak-po...ule-pdm60.html

http://www.aerostich.com/auxiliary-p...sed-panel.html

 

That sure beats the heck out of boat-trailer connectors and duct tape!

 

The aux LED lights (fender,frame,engine and rear fender) were pigtailed into 18 gauge pos and neg wires with crimped eyelets and connected directly to the battery. Also connected directly to the battery was a battery tender quick connect. All of those connectors were burnt and melted. Thanks guys for the response and I hope that someone comes across this article and it reminds them to check out their wires and to tighten up their battery.