Hi guys. I'm new to the forum. My name is greg and I live in Hawaii. I have 2006 ultra. I'm having electrical problems. When I bought the bike, the previous owner had installed led lights. Those went bad, didn't respond to the remote control, and would drain my battery overnight. I figured it out and cut the wires on the led lights and that worked.
Then the battery stopped charging. I had the battery checked and it was ok. I figured out the voltage regulator was bad and stator was ok. I got an after market voltage regulator on Amazon, replaced it, and all was great. Then my head light burned out.
I replaced the head light bulb and immediately, the battery stopped charging again. The voltage regulator is only about 3 months old. I tested everything again. Stator output is about 23 v at idle, around 40 v at 2000 rpm, and about 50 v at 2500 rpm. The voltage regulator output is around 16.5-17 v at 2000 rpm. My problem is that the battery is not getting that voltage. The battery stays around 13 v.
I tested the cable that runs from the voltage regulator and it shows the same voltage as the battery when disconnected from the voltage regulator. (That tells me the cable is intact).
Is it possible that my problem is the voltage regulator is bad and putting out too much voltage so something interrupts the charge and it doesn't not go to the battery? Should I replace the voltage regulator again?

 

Did you ever figure out the problem? I am having the exact issue. I am on my 4th regulator and second stator....

 

I did fix that issue by replacing the voltage regulator. That worked for about 9 months. Now again, the battery wasn't charging. I did the tests and replaced the voltage regulator again, this time purchased from the dealer. It worked for two days. I went back to them and they have agreed to exchange it but I'm still waiting for the part. I think my stator is ok. It puts out about 34 ac volts at 2000 rpm.
I suspect the Harley voltage regulator is just a very poor and unreliable design.

 

Greg - 17V is too high. Check the wire that connects to the starter and goes through the maxi-fuse to the VR for any corrosion, loose bad connections, signs of heat. Also verify VR ground.

Also verify battery cables are good, not corroded inside insulation and clean connections.

 

mr. ed is spot on!!
make sure the connections are 100%
in days of old, acid down the battery cable insulation was common, usually cause by over filling the battery, not so much with todays batteries. however, copper does change characteristics over time. so you can have voltage but reduced current.
remember, the battery ONLY fills in the gaps and starting. once the battery is charged, the system runs off the regulator.
if the system has issues, the regulator will or can go full bore and your lighting can be affected as you have seen.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.I checked those cables. Everything seems OK. There is some sign of heat. The plastic cover around the positive battery terminal was a little melted.
I cleaned up the connection is a little bit. I found the 40 amp fuse. That looks OK. Now I'm waiting for the new voltage regulator to come in from the dealer.

 

Melted is a result of a problem. Were the battery connections loose or very dirty? Did you verify that the wires didn't have high resistance and visually inspect for signs of corrosion? It sounds like you have a bad ground, a loose wire or cable connection or corrosion (or any combination)

 

No obvious corrosion. Don't know how to test resistance in the wires. Connections have been slightly loose at times. One of the problems I've had stemmed from some after market led lights the previous owner had on the bike. The lights went haywire and I couldn't turn them off so I ended up just cutting the wires since I couldn't tell which ones or where to disconnect them. I've now figured out which wires from the battery were going to those lights and removed it. Would that count as "loose wires" or "bad ground?" Those were connected to the battery but went nowhere. I also think my last voltage regulator was running with a high output for a while. Would that generate too much heat?

 

Honestly i wouldn't be surprised if some of the wiring and/or battery cables were starting to rust considering the humidity from living near the ocean. If it was my bike and this actually has happened with my evo, I would buy the entire stator/regulator kit along with new battery cables(and any grounds) from an aftermarket company like cycle electric. This way you know everything is solid as its a ten year old bike now. While in there check the rotor and the magnets inside and make sure you dont get any oil or water in the plug from the stator to the regulator. That can cause some major issues.

With everything together right, the battery should be showing around 14.7v when you rev the bike over 3k rpm. If its not start checking grounds as well as the stator plug and the small ground wire on the regulator.

 

Still having problems. I got the new voltage regulator and still no good.
Is it possible to have an intermittent stator problem? My plug from the stator has three leads. When I test two of them, I get 25-29ac volts at about 1800 rpm. When I test the third lead, I get nothing (or maybe 2 v).
When I check for continuity, measuring resistance between the stator lead and ground, sometimes it's fine and sometimes it reads zero (grounded out)
Does this mean I need a new stator?