How do I find a short that goes to the frame as soon as I hook up the battery?

Contact your local service center directly or online here:

You have what is commonly called an "Dead Short". Meaning that one or more wires that carry positive flow from the battery is grounded against the frame (In most cases that I have seen) Tracing a short can be a hair raising experience if it is intermittent. The first thing to check is the negative battery cable to make sure it is clean and tight. Then follow the negative cable down to the the frame or under the frame and make sure the bolt is tight. Also, if your engine bolts are loose, this also will cause the fuse to blow.

George

Hi it could be a bad earth check the lead from battery to frame and from frame to motor. Regards Jim...

Usually the long heavy cable goes from the negative post to the engine, and the smaller ground wire goes to the body or frame.

Check earth strap from engine to frame and battery to frame.

When you hooked the battery charger up to the battery how many amps was it putting into the battery?

You can ground it pretty much to any existing bolt on the frame. If the area you choose is painted, sand it down to the metal for good continuity and you're set.

Your basic crossover is going to have a power (+) and ground (-). Your power wire goes to the battery, and your ground goes to the frame. You will need to hook up your RCA or speaker wires to the input side. Then hook the other two RCA connections to your amp.

sounds like you are hooking up the starter wrong. the positive goes to the starter main terminal from the battery. the ignition wire goes to the s on the solenoid, which activates 12 volts when the ignition switch is turned on which causes a magnetic field
inside the solenoid and joins the connectors
in the solenoid to the main positive wire from the
battery to the main starter unit brushes/armature inside the starter unit. If you have a constant
12 volts from the ignition wire it will keep the solenoid engaged. If you put the main positive wire on the wrong solenoid terminal it will immediately engage the starter. try putting the main battery wire to the correct terminal or perhaps check the ignition wire for a short or constant voltage to the solenoid.

If you have a volt-ohm meter check for voltage draw and grounds and shorts. Put the meter on the VDC scale remove either the pos or neg wire from the battery, then connect one lead to the wire and the other lead to the battery post where the wire was removed, you should have 2 volts or less, next remove both wires from the battery, set ur meter on ohms scale R1, you should have a high ohm reading between both wires, and probe the pos wire and the other probe to a frame ground, you should have infinity or high ohm readings. If you do have a short curcuit check the wiring that goes thru the handlebars, while leaving the meter hooked up, dissconnect one wire at a time untill the ground goes away. You can also do this with a test light, remove one battery post and hook up a test light in a series curcuit, if the light lights up, you have a short curcuit. Dissconnect wires untill the light goes out, then trace that wire see if its damaged. The older HD's had a problem with the wiring thats routed inside the handlebars.