Sportster starter lead

[stamford74]

Hi All
I've got a 2001 XL1200s, It has always been a great starter ,suddenly only got a click when start button was pressed, found that the main live lead from the battery to the starter motor had Broken, I've just replaced this & tried to start the bike again only to notice smoke coming from new lead down by the the starter moter, This has melted the insulation.
My question, did the same problem cause origional cable to fail? or have I damaged something during my repair?

 

[HarryB737]

If your connections are tight then it sounds like you've got a starter problem.... Brushes, field windings or armature. I would also load test the battery while your testing things.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Yep, as HB says, more likely you have something shorted to ground or a very bad connection at the "smoking" insulation end. Probably not caused by your replacing small secondary wiring. Inspection of the connections, scrape and cleaner, use dielectric grease and reattach, use ohmmeter to verify if there is a short to ground or voltage drop at the connections first (at the heated areas first), then load test of the starter/solenoid assy is probably your best bet...eh "--some disassembly required." Do you have a service manual and good DMM to test for grounded starter before taking off to get it load tested?