rsmith wrote:
2000 Roadstar 1600: My salesman sold me the wrong battery, the terminals were switched. I didn't notice at first. After tightening the neg cable (to the pos term) I proceded to install the other cable (to the neg term) That is when it became evident by the sparking when I tried to connect it. I took the battery out and went back to town, got the correct battery, charged it up, and installed it properly this time. When I turn the ignition switch to start, nothing happens, it seems dead. I pulled the 30amp main fuse and checked it with a meter, it was okay. Then I opened the fuse box and checked the 15amp ignition fuse, it was okay too. Still no power when I switch ignition switch to start. help please,
rsmith

You may have fried the ECU hooking it up backwards. I had a Yamaha Wolverine ATV that a wired grounded out on the exhaust and it would not do a thing. I spent hours running down all the connections and what I figured happened is when one of the kids was getting on the bike their little foot must have been small enough to get on top of the wiring harness and push down just enough to touch the hot exhaust and kill it. The hard part was obviously the wire was no longer on the exhaust b/c the kid wasn't still standing on the harness so it was a MISSION to hunt down. I wasn't home when it happened so all I got was "The fourwheeler won't start anymore". Once I found the wire then the ECU tested bad on the multimeter, installed a new one and bam it started right back. Needless to say the harness got a few extra zip ties!
Electrical is a funny creature...when the wire was shorted and you hit the starter button the reverse light would illuminate and the headlight would go out.