Crazy question. 09’ Fatbob : Every so often, my headlights get really bright (possibly low and high beams on at the same time) and my speedo light turns off for a few minutes while I’m riding. Not sure if it happens any other time, but it’s obvious when I’m riding to work in the mornings. Usually colder when I notice it as well. All connections appear to be good when I have a chance to check everything out. It’s one of those things that goes out and when I get time to check it, everything’s good. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Check the battery connections, load test it, then I'd check the charging system and regulator to see if ithey putting out the correct volts to keep the battery at full charge.. Sounds like a charging system issue to me..

 

 

Good call. Came home today for a little while and hopped on to grab a few cigars and had the "bendix not throwing out far enough noise" when I tried to start it. Battery voltage was 11.7 and when I turned the ignition on it dropped 5 volts imediately. Not sure exactly what the problem is yet, but at least I know that it's not charging properly which gets me much closer than I was when I wrote the post. Charging now so I can measure regulator output voltage while it's running. Thanks for the replies. You guys are awesome!

Now I just have to find a schematic so I can troubleshoot it properly.

 

One thing you can check if you get the bike started unplug the stator from the regulator and check for voltage coming from the stator. Should be around 21 volts AC at an idle(thats what it was on my 01 road glide) may be different on your bike. the voltage should go up with the rpms increased.

 

Always check the simple cheap possibilities first.
Battery cable connections clean and tight, battery is fully charged?

Could be a voltage regulator or in a worse case scenario a stator but you need to do (or have) an electrical output check done.

All ground wires should also be checked.

In either of these possibilities it is highly unlikely the symptoms will cease without some preventative maintenance.

 

So, I traced it down to the regulator. Battery wasn't charging and with the stator unplugged, voltage ran about 20 volts. Got a (borrowed from another bike) new regulator from a shop my buddy owns then had my wife ask the guys at the shop she works for one and got it for $35.00. Dielectric grease on plugs and it's back in running order. Tested and gauranteed.
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Thanks again for all the input fellas.