87 sportster with 1200 conversion. starter has been slowintermitently and when it struggles to turn the motor its actually melting my positive terminal on the battery.

does this sound like a bad starter, or?

tks

 

Could possibly be a bad starter, but I would check the connections first. Maybe a loose connestion, or something grounding somewhere. This would cause the cable to get hot enough to melt the cable.

Have you removed the battery lately, or disconneted it for any reason?

 

Would seem to me the short must be before any fuses or relays are in the circuit.