Motorcycle Repair: harley wont start, mounting bolt, battery cables

Question
harley was clicking when attempting to start, replaced battery, same thing, then new starter no change, new starter relay switch, same thing.  Any suggestions.

Answer
You didn't say what year and model.  Anyway, just replacing parts one at a time is not the way to go.  But it sounds as if you have a bad ground.  Could be at the battery, the relay, the starter.  Or it could be the battery positive cable as well.  Certain years of Sportster had a habit of breaking battery cables inside the insulation, so even if the connections were tight on both ends the full juice wasn't going through and you can't see the break.  So don't assume a wire is good just because you don't SEE any breaks in it.  You need to follow battery voltage from the battery all the way through the starting circuit.  But check the grounds first.  On later models the ground cable connection at the starter mounting bolt is supposed to have a cutting star washer which cuts through the black powder coating.  I've seen them where I had to scrape off a circular area on the bracket around the bolt to get a good ground through the cable.  You probably just have a bad ground connection somewhere.