Motorcycle Repair: shovelhead will not turn over, battery connections, question thanks

Question
QUESTION: hi mike, bought a running 1973 shovel flh. put about 80 miles on it. i replaced the stator. it started 7,8 times after stator replacement and put about 50 miles on it. then one day i push the start button and "nothing". not locked up, will turn by hand.  12 months of studying it and working on it in total disbelief and confusion, replacing this and that, etc. etc., lining up trans., load test battery along with a spare.  make a very long story short, i am down to nothing but the battery hooked directly to an all balls starter, grounded to frame, no solenoid. battery to starter, to starter gear(good), to ring gear, to primary chain, to crank, and still will not turn over. pistons move up and down and valves open and close only by turning crank by hand .  any suggestions would be greatly appreiciated. thank you, john

ANSWER: Will it turn over if you remove the spark plugs? If you send power to the starter does it spin?
Mike

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QUESTION: hello;  yes, to "my" amazement it does turn over when i remove the spark plugs. put them back in and it will not. never heard of or saw such a thing.  starter spins and jackshaft meshes with clutch ring gear but will not turn over(locks up in ring gear) with trans in neutral and/or clutch pulled in. thanks

ANSWER: First make sure your battery is good and fully changed. Next, check the battery connections at the battery as well as the other end. If you have a bad wire or its not grounded good it will not turn over. If the cables are old go ahead and replace them. If you have the positive wire on a breaker, replace the breaker. You are probably dropping voltage either throught he wires, battery or breaker and that is why its not turning over. Once you have it started, check at the battery and see what voltage you are running at around 2000 RPM. You should be getting around 13.5 volts
Good luck and happy riding
Mike

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QUESTION: thanks mike, the pos. battery cable is the only thing left to replace. i'll do it and hope that's the problem. what do you think about it cranking with the spark plugs out but not in? i forgot to mention that i poured some lucas oil treatment in the oil tank. pretty thick. do you think that may have something to do with it not turning over? how do i get it out of the motor?  thanks

Answer
Putting the oil treatment in, really doenst do anything for your bike. The only way to get it out is to drain the oil.
Your motor turning over without the plugs is due to the fact that there is no compression on the heads, so it will turn over quit easily. Once you have to spark plugs the compression makes resistance on the motor.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike