When I go about starting my 1200 custom, it would click and then would have no power at all, but when I go and hit my battery 3-4 times I will have power and can start the bike. Does this mean my battery is going out?

 

Could have a loose or dirty connection. Check both ends of the cables to make sure they are clean and tight. You can always load test the battery to see if its good.

 

Sounds like a loose connection.Start by checking the battery connections.

 

Someone beat me to it.

 

I would think the battery is starting to go but get it tested. My last battery that I just replaced had a slight hesitation on startup and then the bike would fire. When it died it was all at once. I keep my batteries on a tender every night and ride the bike daily so they get a fair amount of use but it has been a long time since I pushed a battery until it was completely dead.

 

It's definitely a connection problem. Hitting your battery won't do anything to fix any other issue. Not even sure why you decided to start hitting your battery in the first place...

 

I had an ugly time with this kind of problem. I would very closely check the - cable where it attaches to the block.

 

Carry you bike to a battery store and have it Load tested, they can do this without taking anything apart, then start checking connections, then take a battery voltage reading with at idle, then jack the power up to 1000 rpms to check max output, you can search here there are other threads that explain checking your power output before digging in too deep.

 

Isn't 1000 rpm your idle speed? My Sporties idle at approx 1000-1200 rpms

Also I would check the connections before I carry the bike to a battery store.