1978 XLCH Starter Help

[Merc1100sc]

Trying to help a bud get his bike going again.  It's a 78 Ironhead. Having no experience with these I figured best to start here. The problem it has is that the starter won't turn the motor over. The motor seems to roll over easy enough by hand but the starter just won't spin it. Tried a couple different batteries. Thoughts on what to check first?

Thanks

[Racepres]

Ground strap, and all battery connections, especially at starter and solenoid but, don't neglect the starter relay.
A meter on the battery when trying to start is important...

[JW113]

1. How old is the battery? Are you 100% sure it is good and charged?

2. When you press the starter button, what happens? Click? No?

3. Using a short jumper wire (or a small wrench like I do), remove the solenoid cover and short the battery terminal to the solenoid "start" terminal. Spin now? Bad starter switch or wiring.

4. After you have pressed the button, CAREFULLY touch the battery terminals. Are they hot or not?  If yes, poor connections, clean all connections thoroughly.

5. Still nothing? Super easy to pull the starter off and bench test it to make sure it even works.

-JW

[Dan89flstc]

Won`t turn the motor over...that doesn`t tell us anything.

Do you hear and clicks, at the relay or solenoid?

Does it sound like the starter is trying to rotate the engine, or is the starter silent?

Trying different batteries is just guessing.

Fully charge the battery, then have it load tested.

Clean all battery cable connections.

If the problem persists after you have done the above, it will be time to get the multimeter out.

[Merc1100sc]

Guys. Thanks for the input/replies. I have not had a chance to take a look at it as of yet. Hopefully sometime this weekend and I'll be back with more questions I'm sure.

Thanks

[Dan89flstc]

 Don`t remove the starter, right now it is at the bottom of your list of suspects...