Ahhh I think me get it... The starter gear jams in the ring gear...the lever arm is held in position and will not let the solenoid plunger go back. Battery is powering the starter even with all the switches off and the key out because (duh) it is directly connected to the solenoid.

Low battery voltage. After this morning's power-drain, I want to get a new battery anyway. Dont really want to pull off the primary cover in the morning unless I have to.

Plan.

1. disconnect terminals from solenoid and see if positive to ground short goes away.
1a. If it does, take solenoid apart and see if it is afu. rebuild solenoid.
2. If short does not go away check relay (if I can find it)
3. if short still there, start visual inspection of all orange wire (already looked at the battery cables and regulator wire)
4. if short still there sell bike.
5. If short gone, buy new battery and install and ride till I forget how aggravated I am.

(beers in there somewhere)

( I have to write these things down...it helps me think)

 

Am I correct in assuming that you found the positive-side ground by removing the positive cable from the battery and connecting your meter there? If your solenoid contacts are welded or the linkage has not returned to the disengaged position (still bound up), then you are probably reading right through the solenoid and starter motor. When I checked my starter motor, it read zero ohms through it so that could be why you are getting the zero reading.
You will know more when you remove the cables from the solenoid and check stuff with your meter.
I hope you don't feel the need to implement step four of "the plan."
I understand your aggravation (Oh man, do I ever understand that!), but I hate to walk away from an unsolved puzzle.

 

When my starter did this I pulled the clutch lever a couple time and it stopped the starter from engaging.
I eliminated all of the solenoid crap with one of these started levers works great and I have complete control of engagement.

 

Megawatt...your are correct pos battery cable to frame. and yes I wont get to step 4

Rodney, I love that starter switch..I just saw that last night in VtwinManufacturing. Very cool.

 

UDPATE:
removing the battery cable from the solenoid eliminated the ground. All three studs on the solenoid are shorted together. WIll take it apart later today. Now...there is a second wire on the Positive stud (long one) that goes off into the harness...and looks like it goes to the regulator. That I suppose is fine, except there already is a wire from the positive battery terminal that I thought was going to the regulator!

More wire tracing in order for today!.

 

one wire is probably to supply the ignition switch and the other voltage from the charging system.

 

Rodney ... Does that switch replace the solenoid, starter relay and starter switch? Do you just reach down and pull the lever to start and then release it once started?

 

The short to ground is in the solenoid. I pulled in the clutch a few times and rocked it around and the ground went away. So does that mean that the solenoid is fine and I had a stuck starter gear?

I put it all back together and when I hit the starter button the starter solenoid got stuck again until I pulled the battery cable.

What if I get a better battery that has >200cca like an odessey... the starter is not misaligned, so I am thinking that a stronger battery will help eliminate this problem. It turns over very slowly anyway also indicating low battery current.

Could all this hassle be just a crappy battery

 

yes.
low voltage can reek havoc in electric motors and cause damage.

the starter switch I installed on my 68 replaces the solenoid.
only one wire goes to the new switch you need a Bosch type relay to excite the larger starter switch which has the primary cables from the battery to the starter motor.
very simple as as you can see and clean.
the lever is what you push forward to engage the starter.

 

Probably not going to help the thread, but maybe some of my problems will help lead to an answer for somebody.
Purchased my wifes '05 1200XL after checking it out and riding multiple times. The day we picked it up it made the 60 mile trip home perfectly. Took her out to ride it that afternoon and the starter engaged and kept turning while engine was running. Shut it off and it stopped. Turned key off then back on hoping to reset something. As soon as I turned the on/off switch back on, starter engaged without hitting start. Nothing I did would kick the starter out. Didn't take long to drain the battery.

Push started the bike and headed the 4 mile trip back to the house. On the short trip the bike sputtered, misfired, gages jumped around, dummy lights flashed.....everything that could go screwy did. HD service guys checked bike only to find water in the main fuse housing. Made some sense if water was bridging connection of fuse as we had just washed the bike. But it did it again a few weeks afterwards and the bike hadn't been washed or in rain. So the water in the fuse answer wouldn't jive.

Took the bike to a local, reputable shop. He found the solenoid to be bad. Replaced it and the bike worked fine again......for about 2 weeks.

Went out one morning to get it warmed up for the wife and battery was dead. Put it on charge. Fired up after charging and we took off up the road. I was leading and noticed her falling behind so I stopped. She said it wasn't acting right and wanted to run it back to the house. On the way home it began backfiring horribly!!! I was trailing her and seeing flames out the pipes. As she slowed into our neighborhood the bike was surging and about to throw her. I swapped out bikes to get it home without her getting hurt, but it died. It restarted easily and the three blocks to the house it never gave any problems.

Twice that week I tried to restart to find a dead battery. When I did restart and I made a trip up the block it backfired a couple of times and died. I pushed it back. So we've also had a frustrating experience with her Sportster.

Its extremely frustrating to both of us (especially her) that her bike is down. Maybe some of my symptoms can help you figure out what's up with your bike. And maybe give some insight to whats going on with ours.

Thanks, Eric