Can anyone help me polarize my 71 ironhead. I have the service manual and it says that it can be polorized either on the bike or off the bike. At first I using speaker wire to connect the A terminal of the generator to the + side of the battery, thought that maybe I needed a bigger gauge, so I used jumper cables but my generator light just stays on

PS

I already checked for shorts in the indicator light, wish that was all it was ; )

Using a volt meter, with the engine off, touch the red wire to the battery positive terminal, and the black wire to earth (ground) and look for a reading of 11.0 -12.5 VDC. Start the engine and check that the volt reading goes to about 12.5-13.5 VDC. If you don't see a pretty good increase when you start the engine, and more increase when you rev the engine up a bit, something ain't right!

Unhook the battery lead from the "BAT" terminal on the regulator and measure the voltage at the terminal with the engine running. The volt reading should be about 12.5-13.5 VDC, and will vary with engine rpm. If it doesn't vary or doesn't read in that range, touch the volt meter lead to the regulator "GEN" terminal. It should read about 15-18 VDC, once again varying with engine rpm.

If it doesn't read that, disconnect both the "GEN" and the "F" terminal wires at the regulator. Connect the volt meter lead to the "ARM" wire from the generator, short the "F" wire from the generator to the case of the generator, and look for 25-40 VDC. Do not do this for longer than 10 seconds, or you'll fry the generator or regulator!

Don't forget to flash the field whenever you unhook any leads on the generator. Touch the positive battery terminal to the "A" terminal on the generator by briefly shorting the "BAT" to "GEN" terminals on a Delco regulator or "B+" to "D+" terminal on a Bosch regulator. Never touch the "F" or "DF" terminals! If you have the solid state regulator, then flash the field by touching the positive battery terminal directly to the generator “A� terminal.

Here's a quick solid state regulator check: Disconnect the rubber regulator connector and connect an ohm meter between the battery and generator wires (orange and tan wires on the regulator). Reverse the ohm meter leads and connect again to the orange and tan wires. One way should read a low resistance, and the other way should read a very high, or even infinite, resistance. If these readings aren't right, get a new regulator.

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Here is what you need to do:
Install generator on the bike and connect wiring.
Before starting engine, take a piece of speaker wire and momentarily jump between the 'BAT' terminal and the 'GEN' terminal on the voltage regulator. The momentary surge of current from the battery to the generator will correctly polarize the generator.
FYI: This operation (flashing the fields) should be done each time the battery has been disconnected or changed on the machine. Failing to do so may cause the regulator contacts to burn up..........................piniongear

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Thanks for the input, I will try the "field flashing" directions for the solid state regulator. Just got off the 2nd 12 this week and I'm kinda hungary. Thanks for the replies though fellas, I really appreciate it!