Is there a way to check to see if a battery has a constant drain due to a short or some other issue with a multi-meter?? I'm starting to suspect this since my battery gets low kind of quick. thanks..

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Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

TimG

What year and model of bike?
Are both ends of both battery cables clean and tight?
Start th bike.
How much voltage does the meter read at the battery.
It should be close to 14 volts when yourev the motor.
Turn the bike off and remove the positive battery cable bolt.
Hold the cable end tight to the battery post then remove it and then put it back several times.
Did you see sparks?
Then you have a problem.
If no sparks then it's probably the battery.
If you do have sparks then proceed to get out your Harley service manual.
If you don't have one thenSTOP untill you do.
Find the breakers and disconnect and reconnect them one at a time each time repeating the spark test at the battery terminal untill you find the offending circuit.
That will give you a place to start looking for the short or faulty component.

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Alan Villhauer

Thanks, that gives me a good place to start.. I DO have a manual, that was one of the first things I bought when I got the bike. I have the battery on the battery tender right, the battery was purchased last year.

It is a 1980 FLH, 74 Inch...

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Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

TimG

Disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. Then place a 12 volt lightbulb between them with the cable touching the side of the bulb andthe silver tip of the bulb on the negative post on the battery. If the bulb lights up there is a current draw.

The regulator rectifier can cause a battery drain if it fails.
as mentioned check to see if your charging system is working by using a volt meter or amp gauge as described in the HD manual.

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1968 FLH owned for 30 years
2002 FXSTDI

I have the battery on a tender right now so, I want a full charge before I start again BUT I did put the Volt meter on the bike.
I disconnected the Neg cable and held the meter between the battery and the cable, it read 1.38 volts at the highest. Is that normal or does that mean there is a draw somewhere?

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Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

TimG

that is a draw for sure
to test the alt. output you don't want a full charged battery or you won't get an accurate reading
sounds like the regulator may be toasted.

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1968 FLH owned for 30 years
2002 FXSTDI

After further investigation and starting to test my Voltage Regulator I noticed it was unplugged from the primary housing.&nbsp\\; I ran through some of the tests and the Stator and Voltage regulator seemed fine.&nbsp\\; Once plugged in I still noticed less than 1 volt of draw from the battery (thinking it could be my ignition switch).&nbsp\\; After the bike sat for over a full day I was still reading 12.68 volts on the battery, when started and rev'd it goes up to right around 13 V.&nbsp\\;

The reason I think my ignition switch is bad is because the mechanical part of the ignition spins too much in the socket, my key will go around almost a full turn, something must be loose.&nbsp\\; Also a week or so ago my bike stopped running with the headlight on, it would only run with the ignition on and no headlight.&nbsp\\; Well I found a burnt/broken jumper wire on the ignition, I made a new jumper and it now runs good again and starts right up. I looked all through my manual and online and cannot find any way to test the ignition switch to see if it bad.&nbsp\\;

Anybody have any tips on this??&nbsp\\; Thanks again for all of your input!&nbsp\\;

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Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

TimG