Voltage drop test basics

1) Circuit must be live
2) Circuit must be loaded with a known good load. Load can be a light bulb, motor, anything that is using the power. For a battery cable or similar wire, if the bike is running, that is acceptable because the bike circuits are the load.
3) Set meter to V
4) Touch one wire to each end of wire, connector, socket in question.
5) On a wire a reading of .5 or less is good - that means that the resistance between your test probes is low and you are only losing .5V of pressure. If for instance you read 5V - that is very very bad - it means 5V is being used between wherever your meter leads are on the wire.
6) If you are measuring on both sides of a lit bulb, or both sides of a running motor you should see 12V as the 12V is being consumed by the load - not the wires.
Here is a diagram my friend made many years ago that should help make it more clear.

 

That does make sense, I'm excited to get these issues under control all thanks to you guys. Now just got to line up time and health to physically do it. Thank you

 

I can see you are frustrated and it seems like you have done everything everybody suggests with no luck but something is just not adding up here from that very first photo...I know this stuff inside and out, and if you put that meter configured to read 20 miliamps in series with your bike's whole electrical system at the battery negative terminal like you said and turned on your master, your tail running and instrument lights alone will pull more than the 2.5 milliamps you are indicating on that meter, and it is not set up to read amps with those settings and lead connections, no way.

I agree it is time to take a break and think it over. I think you have missed something and you are going around in circles as a result...maybe get some help or just another set of eyes and a note taker.

Good luck!

 

 

Yes the power was off, I apologize for miscommunication. Sorry for taking so long to respond as my muffler came off twice today (believe it's missing a coupler) so havent had the time to run the test you described. Is the the wire you are referring to Ed?

 

 

No it's the small one coupled to the heavy cable to the positive starter post - just verify it's good if you are not charging properly or overcharging at the battery. That is the wire that feeds the circuit breaker and powers the bike. I doubt that is an issue though after all your symptoms.

I believe the wire you are holding is your speed sensor.

 

Gotcha so dont even worry about testing those then correct? I have cleaned all the connectors under the seat and side covers as well. I found these connectors not connected to anything under the left side cover which has constant voltage of what the battery reads while bike is off but when it's on there is nothing. It always gets corroded an suspect it's a possible symptom or contributor.

Corrosion top right connector with constant power while bike is off

The specific connector coming out of the harness i was referring to.

 

Your unidentified connector is the module that turns the rear blinkers into tail lights and brake lights. When this mod is done, the yellow lenses are removed and red ones are installed (unless for some reason they didn't change them. They go bad occasionally. If that is connected between your rear lights and the main harness, disconnect it and try it without it installed. Plug the lights into the harness without the connector.

I read again - if it's already unplugged leave it out for now.

Don't know what the white one is, but if it's corroded, clean it and pack it with dielectric grease. Make sure there is no corrosion connecting pins.

Are you using the wiring diagrams in your manual?

 

Yes I am using the manual, the module was disconnected. I unplugged the gray connector the powers the rear lights and that's what originally made the radio work flawlessly but havent been able to duplicate it since. What you see in the 1st pic is how I received the bike and it's current state now. There are no other connectors to try and plug them in so I'm kinda at a loss for ideas for now. I believe the unknown corroded connector goes to the audio (maybe for additional rear speakers) but I will have to check and see again.