I have a daily driver 2005 883 that I have been riding for 4 years now. Been riding it fine all spring/summer and haven't noticed any issues.

Yesterday I came home from work, parked it, and this morning I tried to turn it on and I got lights when I turned the ignition. When I tried to start it I forgot to pull my choke and the bike chugged once and died. I have accidentally forgotten to pull the choke before, but when I went to restart it I got no lights, nothing. Can't get it to turn on at all.

just checked my battery and it seems totally fine. I was getting a good reading. All the fuses are okay... so I would love some advice! I have done all my own work up to this point, and would like to continue learning/doing my own maintenance.

Thanks!
Nic

 

Check both ends of your battery cables , tightness & corrosion would be my next step if you haven't already.

 

When I took the battery out to test its voltage, I made sure to really tighten the negative and the positive leads. Both terminals look clean, too.

 

may be a relay issue?

 

You checked the battery terminal ends , did you check the other ends ?

 

I went to dinner last night, so I wasn't able to look at it further (dark outside when I got home). I am going to work on it when I get off work today.

Would you care to explain to me what you mean by the other ends and how I would go about checking them?

Also not certain about what/where the relay is.

Thanks for suffering through my noobness!

 

I'm not sure on your bike where they go from the battery , just follow them to there termination point and check for good connections. Seems that your getting zero voltage from your battery to your bike. You checked your battery with a meter ? If not I would recommend you pick one up as you will be hard pressed to trouble shoot electrical problems with out one. Also a Harley service manual is your friend. What you will spend between the 2 is around what a hr service charge at the dealer would be. I've done alot my own work and bought alot of tools using this logic. I would check the easy cheaper stuff 1st. You can spend alot of money on electrical ( usually NON returnable ) parts and not fix your problem. If your not positive about your battery another option is to take it to ORielly , Auto Zone , HD dealer, or Advanced Auto and have them load test it , I've never been charged for this . The 1st step is to establish a known good power source and that it is being delivered to the bike.

 

heres a chicks solution..id roll that s.o.b down the hill and kick start it lol

 

I used a volt meter on it and I was getting 12v on it. I do know that much I checked all my fuses and I was getting a connection from all of them as well. All the leads were plugged into the battery firmly. Would I have to take off my tank to follow them up to my starter?

I have a majority of the tools I need already (had a guy back into my bike two years ago and I replaced everything myself with the insurance money his company gave me).

Battery is fine, next step is just to follow the leads to the starter?

Lol I wish. Of course I am riding in 98-102 degree weather all week and as soon as it comes into the low 80s my bike is down for the count :\

 

Oops. Double post