How to remove a rear drive belt on a 2003 harley davidson sportster 883 100 year anniversary bike

SOURCE: oil drain plug

Follow the hose that goes to the frame from the oil tank. Loosen the clamp and pull.

SOURCE: I have Harley Davidson 2000 Sportster 883. I

Neg cable corroded thru.
I bet you have 12v at the battery and less at the other end of the neg cable.
I had the same problem.

SOURCE: 2003 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom Tachometer kit

The only idea that i can come up with is that you dont have a good ground..or the guage was bad when you bought it..i hope this..Keith

SOURCE: Adjusting timing on Harley Davidson 1976 sportster

The advance timing should be 35° before Top Dead Center. This is how you find out which mark this is.

Get the rear wheel of the bike off the ground, remove the spark plugs, shift the bike into fourth gear, and remove the timing plug from the left engine case.
Now, take an ordinary PLASTIC DRINKING STRAW and insert it into the front spark plug hole. Do not use anything else or you stand a chance of it breaking and then you'll have to pull the head to get it out. The plastic straw will bend but not break.
Bump the rear wheel in the direction that it turns while riding down the road until the piston pushes the straw all the way up and just barely starts going back down. Look into the timing hole. You should see a timing mark. This is the Top Dead Center mark. Now, bump the rear wheel BACKWARDS until you see another mark. This should be the ADVANCED TIMING MARK. The piston should 7/16" down from top dead center.

On this model Sportster the timing is advanced by a mechanical advance mechanism. These units are notorious for wearing out and not contolling the timing very well. You must remove the breaker plate to inspect this mechanism. Mark the position of the plate before you remove it. If the pins and holes in the flyweights are worn, replace the unit. Replace it with a good needle bearing unit. Replace the points and reset the gap at 0.018 - 0.020".

SOURCE: how do I replace a drive belt on a 1999 harley

On a Big Twin, you must pull the entire primary drive off the engine.

Disconnect the battery. Take the outer primary cover off the engine. Remove the compensator (engine sprocket) nut. This nut is very tight and has Loctite thread locker on it. 150-165 foot pounds of torque. You'll need to something to lock the chain up so the engine does not turn while loosening or tightening this nut. We use what is called a "locking bar". Remove the small plate with the screw and locknut in the center of the clutch assembly. Remove the mainshaft nut up inside the clutch assembly. It torques to 60-80 foot pounds LEFT HANDED TREADS. Remove the nut from the primary chain tensioner. Grab the compensator sprocket and the clutch assembly and lift the primary drive out of the cover.

Take the small screw out of the center of the jackshaft and remove the starter jackshaft.

From the right side of the bike, remove whatever you have to remove to get to the starter, exhaust pipes or whatever. Disconnect the battery cable and the small wire from the starter. Remove the two bolts holding the starter on inner primary cover.

Go back to the left side of the bike. Remove the four bolts that holds the inner primary to the engine, and the two that hold the primary to the transmission. There's one bolt coming in from the backside that has a braided wire on it on the early models. There may be four bolts holding the inner primary onto the transmission. When you have all the bolts out, the primary will come off easily. If it does not seem to want to come off, you may still have a bolt somewhere. Do not beat on the primary cover with even a rubber hammer. It should come right off.

Now, you'll have to remove the rear wheel, rear shocks, belt guards, and remove the swing arm.

As you can see, it's a pretty involved job on a Big Twin.

Good luck
Steve