I'm lucky to get 13 volts at 2500 rpm. Most of the time I'm under 12 volts. Idling with lights and brake lights, I'm down around 7 or 8. No wonder my battery struggles after a time. What should I be getting? I thought 14+ at 2500 rpm would be about right.

 

I suggest going through Dr. Hess's checking your charging system sticky.

You definitely should be at 14 ish at 2.5k rpms.

 

Yea, I need to do that. Next time we get rain, I think I will.

 

Is it the volt meter on your fairing that is giving you those figures? If so I would ignore them...voltmeters, oil gauges and fuel gauges are all lying bastards and will mess with your head....cover them all up and ride...if the battery don't go flat, its charging just fine.....

 

The meter in my dash never hits twelve, more like eleven with everything off and rpm at 2500. The little gadget I just got from china is better than the stock meter. I was riding around today and watching that thing. Guess I ought to ignore that too. I've got a new battery that can take a lot of abuse, so I'll just ride it and worry when something doesn't work. That's what I usually do anyway.

 

put a hand held dc digital meter on the terminals of the battery to check your voltage. my volt meter on the dash is right around 13 volts, when i checked it with my hand held it was at 14.25 volts. i'll believe the hand held before the dash meter.

 

Mine was reading low voltage toward the end of last year. Lights would also go dim every time I hit the brakes. New battery cured most of it.

 

Blu already bought a battery.

 

Yep, $140 EXTREME from Batteries Plus. It didn't solve any problems, but I'm sure it was headed that way in another year or two.....

 

Whenever there are doubts about the charging system, DO test it before buying stuff, instead of guessing! Dr Hess has the definitive guide.