Electrical Issues

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Jul 16, 2017 | 09:08 PM

MichiganMikey

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From: Okinawa, Japan

Electrical Issues

Bought a 1975 FLH and I am new to Shovel's and having some electrical issues that I need to sort out and hoping for some help from you guys. The charging system is not charging the battery when its running. I can get about 10-12 starts out of it before I gotta manually charge the battery again. I did that a couple of times but the last time I was riding it I notice the smell of burning wires coming from the headlight bucket, then eventually the headlight went out. I parked it and havnt rode it since I noticed the wires burning.

I know the usual suspects of not charging are the stator or voltage regulator. But with the additional info of the headlight wires burning and light going out completely, does that help narrow down the problem at all?

Unfortunatley I live in Japan and cant do any troubleshooting or fixing until I get home in September. Only gonna be on leave for about 3 weeks so im trying to get my ducks in a row before I get there so I can hopefully get it fixed in the first couple of day and enjoy a few weeks of riding.

Thanks in advance

Jul 16, 2017 | 09:27 PM

johnjzjz

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From: la la land jerzey

start by charging the battery - then take out the HL and dash top off - you don't need to run it at first so use a circuit braker - auto parts store 15 amp is fine - and connect it between the battery and the main red wire powering the machine - so you don't have any fires - look at the wire harness for over all condition and what is melted and what is not - orange wires is your main feed with the key on like blinkers brake light switch see whats up - post pictures what you see that is not right

Last edited by johnjzjz; Jul 16, 2017 at 09:29 PM.

Jul 18, 2017 | 06:25 AM

MichiganMikey

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From: Okinawa, Japan

.....

Jul 18, 2017 | 06:27 AM

MichiganMikey

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Joined: Feb 2009

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From: Okinawa, Japan

Thanks for the explanation, sir. I'm gonna try to find a friend with a little mechanical skills to do some troubleshooting for me. Unfortunately I won't be able to do any testing until September when I'm home on leave. I live in Japan and the bike is in upper Michigan.