so I have a 1972 xlch kick only charging system does not seem to be working right I tested the generator and replaced the regulator and polarized them both took off on test ride every thing was going fine I kept checkin the brightness of my head light with my hand I noticed it was diming pretty bad so I turned around and with pretty much no head light i then felt the bike start to pull harder I twisted the throttle and I took off like a rocket dead battery but ran better than ever? any ideas I am goin to go thru my wiring system tonight and look for a short but im pretty sure its not a short out

 

My guess would be a loose connection or short somewhere.

 

Check that you haven't reversed the wires on the generator. Happened to me, on my ealry ironhead, sounds exactly like my issue. Runs great now

 

That excactly what I did when I stripped my down 71XLCH in 73 and painted the frame and tins...

When I put her all back together, I kept having no charging system..
new REG, new Battery, nothing seemed to fix it.

then I rode to our HD shop and the Oldest,, wisest Wrench looked at my bike and knew what was wrong in 5 sec's...

Switched wires and wa-ta-bing she was charging just fine..