I went out and started the bike today after letting it sit on the tender all night as it fired right up. I shut it back off plugged it in and got ready for work. Half hour later it started the same as usual. On the ride in I put the display I my power Vision to the battery and it read 14.2 to 14.5 the whole ride. Shut the bike off when I got here and it's sitting at 12.5. We'll see what it's at when I go outside later.



Skinman thanks, i check all of that out when I get home.

 

You are low at 14 at 2000 rpm. The regulator check is the voltage output for a garage mechanic without high dollar tools. Sounds like one diode is leaking but not totally gone but may be just a bad battery cell screwing up the reading. I think the key here is you say you charge all night and shows 12.8. Then you hit starter and it's like battery is run down. That has nothing to do with your charge system. You need to get another battery. Sounds like they gave you a defective one.

my typical spill for what it is worth...
After a good 24+ hour maintenance low amperage charge, with the charge light in the solid green and the battery has set about 24 hours off charge, voltage should be about 12.8 volts.
12.8 = full charged
12.6 = 75% charged
12.3 = 50% charged (Lot of new modern cars with system protection will not even click at this point but will have good headlight beams showing)
12.0 =25% charged

Always check both the terminals at the battery lead and also at the terminal on the wire. That helps to verify connection.
With a DC volt meter (one that has a feature to lock high and low reading is best) hooked across the battery terminals and reading 12.8 or so, crank motor and while its cranking it should not drop below about 9.6 volts and as soon as it starts and throttled up to 2000 rpm, voltage should read around 14.8 volts. The 2000 rpm is the bench mark standard. Ignore idle output. Ignore output above 2000rpm unless it exceeds 14.9 volts. That is a sure indication that regulator is bad. The crank check shows a rough check of the reserve amperage capacity of the battery while cranking with a 150-200 amp load on it. The 14.8 shows a good alternator and if you leave it on a while as the regulatory will drop the voltage a little showing itself working. However, with the lights and stuff always on, it will never drop back much. If you have a lot of options, most modern bikes will not show 14.8 charging volts at idle but stock newer bikes will be close. Older bikes with lower amperage output not so much. However, 2000 rpm is the bench mark for the standard 14.8 volts.
If you think battery is good and something is draining it sitting, now would be a good time to check for drain problems. Go to harbour Freight and get you a AC/DC meter for under $25 or so. http://www.harborfreight.com/ac-dc-d...ter-37772.html Make sure it has DC amps draw,DC voltage, resistance and AC voltage. Key off. Remove the negative cable off the battery. Set meter on DC amps. Hook the meter lead to cable and the other to battery. How many milliamps (mA) is it drawing? It should be no more then 6 mA which is the ECM (1), speedometer (1), tac,TSSM (1),HFSM (1) and voltage regulator (1)
When a battery wears out, a good charge will show fairly good voltage, but the battery can still have very low amperage capacity which will show in the crude crank test above, but it really should be checked after a good charge by removing it from bike and getting a free check at a place like AutoZone that has a fancy load meter check that gives you a print out of the battery health. Battery MUST BE CHARGED to check it. Be sure they set their meter to correct cold cranking amperage stated on the battery. Never charge the AGM absorbed glass mat battery with a regular car battery charger unless it is a newer one that says safe with this type of battery. Also, by taking battery out you now know you have good connections. Vibration tends to loosen the connections or a little corrosion will prevent charging or cause starting problems. Using the maintenance charger can get more years from a battery but be careful here. You do not want the last start 5 miles from home. If it still grunts when you first hit starter or kicks back with a bang, replace it. After a few years, charge and pull battery and have it checked for cold cranking amperage ever spring. Even then, if it grunts most ever start, I would replace it. If they have one that fits your bike, Wal-Mart's AGM absorbed glass mat battery is just as good as any for one third to half the money of a Harley Battery. Do not jump, push start or run bike with a half dead battery except in an emergency. Charging a worn out battery can kill alternator stator or the voltage regulator or both. Probably a big dollar repair. It is also a good idea to always check your battery at 2000 RPM with your meter set to AC. If by chance, the regulator goes bad, sometimes it will let AC come thru. That is a sure sign of a bad regulator. The older stators with two wires is a two phase AC system. Lot of people call it a single phase but it is two phase. The AC voltage you see appears single since you check it AC across the two wires since there is no earth ground. If you were to check one wire to an earth ground, it would show one half the voltage that you would see when you check the two wires together on the bike. Same with the other. Together they double and are two phase. The newer 3 wire system is a 3 phase AC system for the higher amperage output.
Also remember, when starting a Harley, hit the starter and hold it in till it is firing on both cylinders and running before letting up. There is a fraction of a second more for a long stroke Harley then a multi-cylinder car for it to get going. If you do not do this, it will kick back with a bang or crank a lot longer the second time or shame on you the third time. Also, if you have a habit of doing this, the starter solenoid switch contact will only have half the life it could. You cannot hurt the starter. The starter gear has a sprag clutch. There are drive pins in it that as the gas motor catches and run, it outruns the starter motor drive and disengages it from the electric motor.

 

I didn't have time to read the whole thing, but I will as soon as I get off work. I bought one new battery last week and took it back for another stronger battery that turned the bike right over. So I don't think it's the battery as it's brand new and had a full charge. But a 2k rpm it reads 14.2-14.4 but up around 3-3500 it gets to 14.5

 

14.5 is too high! You are cooking the battery.

Your charging voltage should be around 1-1.5 volts above the static reading with a good charge which should be around 12.5 vdc.

 

Not sure where you got that from but's it's not in a Harley manual or a car manual for that matter. On a car, it will taper off but on a bike with the lights going and such, it's usually up there at 2000 rpm which is where you should check it. Right after starting , it will be close to 14.8 on most.

This below is right out of the service manual for a late model Dana. You are correct that maybe it could taper that low as you mentioned but not after any type of load ..

If voltage to the battery is not more than 15 VDC,
voltage output is within specifications. Investigate
other possible problems. See Charging System Test.
b. If voltage is higher, voltage regulator is not functioning
properly.

 

I don't GAF what your manual says, if you see evidence of venting from a new battery after a few hours operation, and the battery is not holding a charge, then it is not charging properly and you have a problem somewhere.

The primary function of the voltage regulator is to regulate the electrical generation system voltage and keep a relative constant voltage output over varying current load demands...14.5 volts on a 12 vdc system is at the high end and 15 volts is just too much.

And, I know this stuff from doing it for half of my life...just say'n...

 

Put your DC meter on the maintenance charger line and start the bike and nudge it up to 2000 rpm. As starting, it will probably drop to 10 or so and jump to close to 14.5 or more at 2000

 

Took it to the dealer yesterday because I'm so fed up with it. They tested the whole charging system, said they tested the diodes, tested for a bad ground and said everything was fine but the battery failed a load test. They threw a harley battery in and in taking the megaboost cycle gear batt back today. I don't really have high hopes that this is the fix, actually I don't think it's going to fix it at all. I started it this morning after having it in a tender a night, and it just didn't crank like I had expected it to, although it was 30 degrees this morning outside.

 

It will fix it. Syn engine oil will help some at 30 degrees. I am brave but not 30 degree brave. Just how stock is your motor. A tuner not set correct or rich will cause starting problems. These motors do not have a lot of extra built into the starting system. When all is correct, even a perfect stock one will grunt if the piston happens to be in the wrong position for starting. Let the battery have a weak cell or be half worn out and low on cranking amps and it will grunt ever time and still show a good battery. That is what mine did on the last one. I think we keep them on the maintenance chargers too much and they get weak. In your case, you just go a bad battery. After market is a cut throat industry. That is what mine is but I do not depend on my Harley since I am retired and too old to go far on it and know help is just a phone call away.

 

Now that you mention it, I adjusted my tune not long before this started happening. I'll Try going back to my previous one an see if it helps. Thanks for the replies everyone, it's very much appreciated.

Just went out to start it for lunch, 39 degrees and it fired up. After my work out today and Tomorrow morning if I starts normal I think I'll be in the clear.