Everything was going pretty good despite the 100 degree temperature... stopped at a traffic light and the motorcycle stalled... Voltage gauge would not come off the peg (Less than 8 in my case)... What do you suggest I check first?

 

Make sure the regulator plug is thght, if it is then you could have a problem in your charging system/battery to include all connection and grounds. A dead short will also do this, buyou should have had some smoking wires or a smell.
Check the battery with a volt meter with everything off, if it's low, charge it and take another reading. Then start it (if it will) and take a voltage reading with the engine revving about 2,000-2,500 RPM's. Then let us know what readings you have. Hope this helps.
John

 

Neither my wife nor I smelled anything funny.... I drive truck for a living so a lot of this will have to wait until next weekend... I am definitely a novice at fixing this pig so any help is appreciated and I will keep everyone posted.

 

Still need suggestions... stator ground test showed zeros, resistance showed zeros, AC voltage showed 18 volt per 1000 rpm replaced the regulator after starting the bike the battery slowly drops from the starting 12.5 volts...suggestions please

 

How old is your battery. Are the connections sound?

 

All grounding posts and battery posts were cleaned and a new 50 amp breaker installed also...1 year old

 

Dr. Hess's charging system test

Scale on DC Volts, around 20V max voltage scale. Nominal readings are given in brackets. Check voltage across battery terminals (12.8). Turn bike on. Check voltage (less than previous, ~12.0+, depending on headlight, accessories). Start bike and let idle. Check voltage (could be 12.0 to 15). Rev to about 2500. Check voltage (should be more than observed with bike on but motor not running, and more than with bike off. Ideally between 13 and 15.) Turn high beam on. Should be about the same, give or take a little. If the voltage is over 15 or 15.5-ish with a headlight on, I'd consider replacing the regulator and/or checking all grounds (battery to frame, regulator to frame in particular). If the battery voltage with the headlight on, bike not running is less than around 11.5-ish, I’d replace the battery. If it’s 10, it’s past it’s prime.

If you pass the above tests, your system is most likely fine, including the regulator and stator. If you don't pass, then:

Bike off. Meter set on Ohms, medium-ish scale, like 20K or 200K Ohms max scale, depending on your meter. Pull stator plug. Ground the meter black lead to a good chassis ground, like a bolt or even the battery negative. With the red lead, touch a different part of the bike, like the engine case at an unpainted part or another bolt. Meter should read low ohms, like 0. If it doesn’t, you didn’t ground the black lead. With the red lead, touch each contact on the motor side (stator) of the plug (the part stuck in the case). Depending on if your case has a male or female plug, if you can't see the metal part/pin of the plug, you can put a paper clip in the hole and touch the paperclip with your meter red. Meter reading should be infinity on all pins. If it isn't, your stator is shorted to the case, replace.

The following is for single phase systems. I don't have a multi-phase and haven't had to diagnose anyone elses, so I haven't dug into those systems.

Set meter to lowest ohm scale, like 200 Ohms, typically. (Note: Not 200K ohms). Check resistance between the two stator plug pins. Should be fairly low. My Book says 0.2-0.4 ohms. The spec is in your shop manual. If it is infinity, stator is blown open. If it is 0, stator is shorted to itself.


Set meter to AC Volts, 100V scale. Attach each meter lead to a stator pin. You may need to rig up some type of temporary plug. It is important that nothing can short to ground or to each other accidentally, or you will blow the stator if it wasn't blown before. An old plug off of your last regulator is a good way to do it, but, get creative and be careful. I can do it holidng the leads on the pins once the bike is running, but I don't like to. Start bike. Voltage should vary with engine speed. Specs are in your shop manual, but 35V at a couple thousand RPM is probably about right. My book says 19-26 V / 1K RPM.

If you passed that stator test and failed the first test, your regulator is shot. If you failed any part of the stator test, replace both regulator and stator.

 

Fully charged battery at rest - 12.9 volts

Voltage reading during starting - no lower than 12.0

Volt reading at high idle - 14.5

At rest, a reading of 12.7 volts meens that you battery is 25% discharged! Low volt readings during start indicates a weak battery. A low or high volt reading during high idle indicates a malfunctioning charging system.

Start with the obvious (clean cable connections, positive and negative, both ends) and work your way from there.

 

Thanks my pin to case reading was 0

 

Pin to case reading should be OL on most meters, or just straight lines indicating an open circuit. Does your meter show 0 when the leads are attached to nothing? Not trying to insult, only want to understand the 0 stator to case check.

Dr Hess' direct from the manual instructions are fool proof.