Push start button, nothing happens.

[Bothofmany]

1986 softail custom with Fireball hi-4e, has always worked great. Stopped for lunch, and then nothing when tried to start. Not even a click. All lights work fine. Timing led lit on Fireball unit. I push-started bike to get home. If anyone has any ideas, I check simple stuff first.

[Guns]

I am assuming that the bike is dead completely i.e. no clicking sounds when you thumb the switch.
Two things to check in the first instance.
The most obvious is the starter solenoid, without this no juice gets to the starter, If is was faulty rather than dead you would hear the starter clicking but not turning the motor.
The second is the starter switch itself, they do suffer from wear and tear and at 23 years old, it is not uncommon for this to fail.

If it is not one of those things but it runs on push start, I would be inclined to look at the regulator and the thermal fuses (under the saddle on the rear fender) as they are both major culprits too.
Hope that helps

Guns

[Apache]

Check all battery conections, all grounds etc.!

[pagewizards]

Just had my thermal fuses replaced as I had a very similar problem with my 2004 heritage.