I recently bought a 2005 softail deluxe and was told before purchase the battery was going out so the seller put a new battery on before purchase. I rode the bike for approximately 3-5 days with no issues other than it seemed slow to start on several occasions. The bike will not turn over now. I am about to purchase a multimeter but have limited experience with electrical systems so please post all responses as if you were talking to your wife and you were explaining her on how to rewire the toaster. Thanks in advance. JT

If you are buying a multitester also consider buying a small motorcycle battery charger. They make ones that have a remote charging cable that you put on the battery one time and then you have an easy way to connect the small charger up when the bike it sitting for long periods. This will keep the battery fully charged and ready to go when you are.
Some batteries are sold only partially charged and you need to bench charge them fully before running them on the bike. Depending on your bikes energy demands the battery may never fully charge up during regular use.
If you put the multitester on DC voltage check the battery to see what its resting charge state is.
If the battery is reading less than 10.6 volts its probably down too low the recharge itself using the bikes alternator. Charge it until its resting voltage is 12.0 volts. Then your bikes alternator can make enough juice at 14-15 volts to recharge the battery while its running.
Good luck and be careful.