1998 FLHTCUI....

Thought my bike was having charging issues due to the voltmeter reading less than 12.

I checked battery, stator, and regulator.....all good.

With headlight on and engine running....voltmeter reads 12 or less.

With headlight off (fairing off bike), the voltmeter reads 14.5....same reading off battery.

Is it ok to rewire the voltmeter with two wires straight to the battery? That would give me a accurate reading off the voltmeter at least. Any problems doing that?

Thanks

 

The volt meter would be "on" all the time, not switched. It doesn't take much current, but does take some. I'm gonna GUESS on the low quality and say it is maybe 5K ohm/volt, so MAYBE 50K internal resistance. Shouldn't drain the battery too much. It would not be a bad idea to check just to make sure.

 

I have not checked how much it would draw.

If anything....I suppose I could install a toggle switch. That would totally stop all current to the voltmeter when not in use.

 

My voltmeter always read lower then actual voltage.

 

don't believe the HD volt meter, I ignore mine. once in a while I'll tape my digital hand held meter to the handlebars just to check the out put and it's always good.

 

Thats the route I’m gonna take....those gauges always kinda sucked anyways

 

I do check my voltmeter. It gave me notice of my failed stator. It might not provide the exact accurate voltage, but when it starts to bounce around and drop below 12+ while running, it tells you something is wrong before damaging other parts, like the voltage regulator or draining the battery for example.

 

Or stranded at the wrong place and wrong time😡

 

I would not necessarily consider your volt meter inaccurate.

Considering your bike is at idle with the headlight/tail lamp and running lights all on, and if you have a 32amp charging system, your charging system us unable to supply the necessary current (at 1000 rpm) to replace what is being used by these lights + Ignition.

Your headlamp alone will consume about 5 amps if on hi and about 4.5 amps on low ( if your using a std 60/55Watt bulb)
It may be your charge system at 1000rpm may need to put out in excess of maybe about 6-7 amps to keep the voltage up in the system.
Your reading of about 12V with headlamp and about 14 without headlamp would bear this out.
without lamp you just took 4.5/5 amps out of the system and the alternator has much less current to replace, thus you see a higher voltage on the meter.

My .02¢