1994 883 Sportster.....with issues!

[meister]

Ok, so i just joined this site because I need some guidence. I have a 1994 HD 883 Sporty that i have owned since 1993. The bike has NEVER let me down...til yesterday. My Girlfriend and I thought it would be a great day to take a ride... started the bike up, ran just like normal... Hopped on and away we went. About 2 miles down the road, the bike started popping and stalled. I was thinking that maybe i was out of gas, switched it over to reserve and attempted to start. I had nothing, no neutral lite, no headlights...nothing. My girl gave me a push and it popped started but its only running on 1 cylinder. I got it home, put a battery charger in it and havelights and such, as soon as i hit the start button, a click and everything goes out...
Anyone have any thoughts??

 

[glider]

Another case of dirty or loose battery cable ends. Either the battery end or the other end. Remove, wire brush and reinstall. Neg off first and on last.

 

[opaka lips]

+1 on glider's advice.

Also want to add: although it's not common, a battery can go faulty for no apparent reason - it's happened to me. Even the vendor did not have an answer. Lucky for me, it was replaced at no charge.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Welcome Meister to HDTimeline...there is a lot of info here to help you, and yes by all means click on the tabs near the top of the page to find Self Help Tips to help you troubleshoot and make your ride run better. There is also the Search tab and just type in keywords to locate threads on the subject.

As Glider & Opaka Lips said, cleaning the primary heavy cable battery and starter cable connections is a good start. If you can't get at the negative terminal easily, pull the main fuse first, then the negative terminal. I usually scrape with a pen knife all primary connections at both ends of each wire connection 'til shiny, and coat with dielectric grease to inhibit corrosion and moisture intrusion. It is available at HD for $10 or from most autoparts stores like O'Rielly-Kragen, etc.