The "rule of thumb" for electronic firing and fuel systems is no lower than 9 volts for the systems to work. I have seen normally aspirated systems (carburetors) and point/coil systems crank as low as 6 vdc...kinda makes for a hot start, though...

 

So a question I have is could the stator/ rotor issue the 06 Dyna's have be affecting the battery? I had a bad one last month, maybe two months ago now. Bought a new one and installed. All connections are tight and now twice in the last couple weeks it will not start for me. It cranks and clicks but just not enough juice to start. Put it on the tender and voila! it starts.

Now im nervous to ride and have me stranded somewhere and it not start again. Should a new battery already be having issues with cranking? If my stator is starting to fail is it maybe not charging my battery when I ride enough to crank the next time?

With a new battery what could be the other culprits? I don't want this stator thing to happen I have been reading about all night so I think im going to go ahead and fix it but in the meantime should I be concerned. I am seeing that there are really no warning signs for the stator being bad but wouldn't a new battery not holding a charge be one? I have no check engine lights or battery lights on (I do have the key light on occasionally but I have no idea what that means) I thought it was for my alarm?

Sorry to rant here guys, and to steal a good thread. Just had questions of my own.

Rebobbed

 

You'll find two stickies on Charging System Testing over here:

Electrical and Lighting

 

So after taking it off the tender and riding it for a few days, I could tell I was going to need a new battery. It was starting to loose it's starting power like before. I parked the bike on saturday, didn't ride sunday and monday it was back to the trying to start but not enough juice and then the clicking. I went to Autozone and picked up a Duralast battery, installed it and it fired right up with no hesitation. Now, to see how long this battery life span is!! Thanks for the help. And Rebobbed, your not stealing it if its related.

 

I assume you do not have a DC volt meter. Since your battery is still under a warranty, take it out and have them check it. At least this will insure connections will be correct. Then, if you want to save a few bucks, get you a $10 DC volt meter. Start it up and rev it up to 2000 (slightly above fast idle without a tac. Is the volts 14.8 DC or so? If so your charging system is probably OK. Harley's charging system are quite reliable unless abused. If you do not ride a full hour ever few weeks, it's probably needs the maintenance charger on it.

!glad you got it fixed blue!

 

Ripsaw, I do have a meter but electrical is not my expertise. Ill be honest I have never known how to check these things accurately. Although I did look at the stickies submitted in the post prior and im going to give it a shot tonight. maybe I got a bad battery. charging system ahs to be working somewhat. I went about 120 miles on Saturday, started and ran fine. I guess if it wasn't charging I would have did at about 30 miles.

thanks for the help, and thanks Blue!

 

With U-tube, you can figure out how to be president but electrical is a little harder? HA

 

so i did what you said. started up and put my multimeter on the battery. it was at 12.1 with the bike off and when i started it and reved it it was 13.7. never moved up or down during idle. battery is at the local batteries plus. thy wanted to keep it overnight to warranty it. i am going to assume when i go there in the morning they are going to tell me its ok.

should i be concerned it stayed at 13.7?

 

Not even sure how you got it to start at 12.1 volts. Once you get a good battery in, it should be what I stated. You could have one bad diode in the regulator. Doubt it's the stator but it all need checked properly before you start shooting in the dark. The stator is easy to check. The regulator without fancy equipment other then the 14.8 at 2000 is impossible for a backyard mechanic.

After a good 24 hour low amp controlled charge and the battery has set about 2 hours voltage should be about 12.8 volts.

12.8 = full charged

12.6 = 75%

12.3 = 50%

12.0 =25%

With a DC volt meter 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 or so should read around 14.8 volts. 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.
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. Also by taking battery out you 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 5 years from a battery but be careful here. You do not want the last start 5 miles from home. After a few years, charge and pull battery and have it checked for cold cranking amperage ever spring. If they have one, Wal-Mart's AGM absorbed glass mat battery is just as good as any one's for half the money. Do not jump, push start or run bike with a half dead battery. It will kill alternator stator or the voltage regulator or both. Probably a $500 repair.