battery issue

[honda400ex27]

got a question...i have a 99 400ex, still has original battery, well i turn the key on and it does nothing, i hear a clickin noise in the round (selenoid i guess) beside the battery and the neutral light is really dim, well i put the multimeter on the battery and it says its ok, i hooked the jumper cables up the it and she starts fine and the neutral light is bright, but when i unhook the jumper cables and its idling and i tap the gas the neutral light goes dim when it revs, im assuming the battery is dead as a hammer, just want to make sure before i buy a new one and it not be the problem? i also tried hooking the other selenoid(or the round box beside the battery) up off my other 400 and it does nothing so im supposing its fine....i just dont understand why the multimeter reads the battery

[Pappy]

voltage at the battery shouldread between 12.45 and 12.75 with 12.62 volts being perfect. have someone hold the meter on the terrminals when you hit the starter button and see what it reads. Im betting it drops to nothing...in that case you will be needing a battery

[trikemoto85]

I would go through every switch in ur primary starting circuit, and clean them , because it sounds like the circuit does not have enough voltage to hold the selinoid closed, if u know how do do a voltage drop it would tell u witch switch is bad or needs cleaning....a switch should loose no more than .2volts and through the whole circuit .5volts...hope this helps..