Electrical Problem

[jackrabbit59]

I turn on the key of my 1998 Tourer and the battery goes down to a few volts.  It will click the starter solenoid sometimes but the lights dim immediately.  I have changed the starter and emergency switches, the starter solenoid, the starter relay, the 3 way diode.  It has good ground at every point.  It does not blow any fuses.  The battery is fully charged.  I pulled all fuses except the ignition fuse and as soon as the key is turned on the power drains immediately.
PLEASE HELP.  I am out of ideas other than pulling the whole wiring harness.  I have 4 bikes and have done all the work on my bikes for 40 years.  This is the first one that I can't fix!
Thanks.

[Farther]

How old is your battery?  Maybe it is time for a load test.

[Blaze]

Ditto on the battery. It could have a sorted cell and still have over 12 volts with no load. Load test it.

[salty1]

Bad battery probably. 

[old2soon]

What everybody else is saying-load test that puppy.  Tought mine was O-K-til they load tested it.  RIDE SAFE.

[R J]

Hey Grasshopper, remove the battery and take it to the nearest Parts Store and have them throw a load test on it.

You probably have an internal shorted out cell.

Then look at their batteries and ask if it is fully charged, if not say please fully charge it and I'll take it home with me.

Put it in the bike, fire it up and go for a ride.

You say you worked on bikes for 40 years, right?   You never run across a internally shorted battery in all those years.   You must be living right.   

[Hoser]

What RJ said.  The battery is the first thing I would check.  Hoser

[jackrabbit59]

You guys were right.  I smoked the battery trying to find the problem.   Thanks for the help.