Welcome to the wonderful world of ironheads mate..Go over all the wiring and conectors,buy shares in an electrical tape company and use the tape sparingly..My ironhead has had all sorts of weird electrical shit mate and the old bastard still suprises me constantly..When you get the old bugger up and running without sparks and smoke you'll have more fun than a bloody fat kid in a cake factory..CHEERS BOOF
What they said, if the battery post was smokin then you have a serious short. Get a schematic and trace everything out. That solenoid could be the problem and there could be other things damaged now. Be slow and methodical. A 72 will most likely have all sort of electrical problems. I would suggest getting a new wiring harness if you can.
Yeah that busted solenoid could definately be your short causing the sparks to fly. Like everyone else said, go through the harness real good. After almost 40 years there are bound to be some wires that have rubbed through the insulation.
I would also try disconnecting the started completely and try kicking or push starting it.
alright thanks.. obviosuly a dumb question but sence the postive cable for the battery is coming out of the starter solonoid how do i go about bypassing it all together i just need it kick start
and by "arked" the ground terminal on the battery was melted in half
hows it goin guys. i have a 72 ironhead kick/electric start am i'm having all kinds of issues.... the battery was arked when i got it... so we ran it like it was for awile now she wont start..... first i changed the plugs, then played with the carb a bit... still nothing... went out and got another battery, went to put it in and it sparkled like all hell the post was smoking (obviously not good) pulled the battery back out and noticed that the plastic on the starter solonoid was cracked and the connectors hangin out..... could this be my problem? helpppp pleaseeeeeeeee