You have a 1997 Harley Davidson Fat boy.
Unknown mileage
Unknown changes from stock
Unknown history of ownership
Unknown when the bike last ran OK without any problems
Unknown time between last three intermittent problems that are reported to be the same.
You report: Bike will be running fine, then while riding everything goes out (including all the lights) and it stalls. Usually it comes back to life shortly....Does this mean the bike is still rolling and restarts on its own?
You report: I’ll notice my dash light looks brighter than usual for a few seconds. Then everything is normal again, except that lights are burned out. I’ve gone through two headlights and two load equalizers (I have aftermarket LED turn signals and brake lights installed).
Have you considered review of charging system?
Voltage at battery post at rest, while cranking?
Voltage at battery post while above idle?
It is reading like you have an over voltage situation or a combination of loose cables, bad battery and bad regulator but it requires testing to isolate.
How is the ground (negative) cable on battery?
How is the battery itself?
What is voltage output of Stator in AC volts ?

 

The regulator is hard to check without fancy equipment but obviously, it's letting high voltage get thru. Could even be AC. Probably needs replaced. But you also ought to check alternator stator since it could be bad also and you do not want it to kill new regulator. (stator is easy check with just an AC/DC/ ohm meter) Search on her for post if you do not know how.

 

 

 

I would start at battery. Charge it with a under 1amp maintenance charger for 24 hrs. Pull it and have it load checked at it's low amp rating and for grounds in it.
If OK, recharge it till green light. Regulator needs a good battery to be correct reading at 2000 rpm service manual rating.

 

Check voltage cold, warm, and then fully up to temp, you may want to warm the VR up with a hair dryer to get it above the ambient air temp as it may be at that temp when riding around (slow cruising isn't going to cool the VR much and the VR will heat up quite a bit as the bike runs) this way you can isolate VR out of the equasion.

 

Sorry to hear of such trouble.
Cycle electric is a good product..They always get good reviews.
2 years is not a long time but then again maybe you rode 100,000 miles in difficult roads within Alaska with high electrical demand heated products during those 2 years..
When lights burn, especially a headlight then i would think high voltage is getting past regulator....either due to a regulator failure or wire issue..or stator wire is somehow throwing unregulated AC voltage spikes into bike.
Cycle electric is a good product so unusual that a factory acquired part would be bad.
Why was original stator and regulator replaced 2 years ago? at what mileage? What went bad? was it a short to case at stator? broken wire? did stator burn-out? or did regulator give-up the ghost?
Is it possible that you have overtaxed the electrical output with numerous heated gear items and maybe a a battery that was not perfect thus destroying regulator a second time?
The battery cables can take some weird turns, are cables 100% OK.
I would test battery, then all connections to battery, then charging system connections then charging system.
If needed tape a voltage meter to tank in order to verify issue while riding or while lightly banging on hard parts of bike with rubber hammer (checking for loose connection) while bike is at high idle..
If this will be the third voltage regulator in bike history then it might be a good idea to study the matter in depth to not repeat the same problem.
Sometimes a quick diagnosis of a bad regulator alone might be a temporary solution but may not solve the recurring cause.
That is why sometimes, so many questions get asked.

 

Replaced the stator at 37,000 miles due to a broken wire. Bike is at 52,000 now. Only reason I replaced the regulator was because I first thought that was the issue before I discovered the busted stator. Also, Cycle Electric only warranties their product when you use their brand for both the stator and VR.

Haven't really used my heated gear a ton since then, but who knows.