My mother gifted me her 1996 Sportster 883 recently and it is having some issues.

Whenever I am riding down the road and need to make a left-hand turn, the blinkers do not work (front or back). Also, when the front brake is applied, all the electrical systems basically shut down. Speedo drops to zero, speedo light turns off, and the headlight dims enough to look like it is turned off.

I assumed it was some short in the handlebar controls, but do not know enough to make an accurate assumption. Has anyone had a similar issue? Does the bike need to be completely rewired (as per the HD dealer)? If so, how much will this cost? Or is it something simpler?

Please help me out. I'm trying to get it into safe riding condition!!

Attached is a picture just for ***** and gigs.

Just realized my phone corrected wiring to writing in the title. ****.

 

chek that none of the wires are getting pinched from the controls - get yourself a meter and see if any of the wire grounds out . sounds like a shorted / ground out wire / wires to me

 

Alright. Thanks for the advice! I'll take a look.

 

Check the tightness of your battery cable connections...on both ends too. Nice look'n bike!

 

When was the last time it had a new battery?