Does anyone know what voltage the battery should read while the bike is running at idle? I had my engine light come on today and it threw code p0562 which is battery low voltage. I took my multi meter and to a battery measurement at it read 12.5vdc. Well looking in my shop manual it looks like that is only 60% ( 12.7 is 100% according to the chart) well I put the battery on a battery tender 4 hrs ago and the light is still red, which makes me think its a bad battery. Well I took off the charger and I now get 12.8 vdc at rest, but as soon as I turn my ignition switch on, back down to 12.5 as soon as I turn on the fuel pump, down to 12.4vdc and I throw a code again. I just want to make sure that my charging system isnt bad, but after 4 hrs on a tender the battery sould be good, and its not so Im thinking battery?

Your thoughts?

 

Greetings,

I went through the same thing on my Night Train (bike before my current one) and I replaced the battery. All was well after that. The battery was three years old so I felt like I got my money's worth out of it.

 

Idling it should read about 14 volts just off of idle in the 1500-2000 range. This is telling you the charging system is working. It you are only getting mid 12s with it idling there is a chance the regulator or stator have crapped out. A load test on the battery will varify it's conditon and how well it can hold a charge. With age or a bad cell this ability deteriorates as well as it's ability to take a charge.
Ron

 

I will have to check the voltage off idle. Thanks.

Edit: Are there any easy ways to check the regulator, rotor or stator? Im pretty sure its the battery as I have a battery gage that reads good voltage as Im moving down the road.

 

Ok here is the latest finding. The battery tender charged the battery full up (got a green light) took the charger off, read 13.2vdc. Hit the on switch, voltage drops way down to 12.45 vdc. Then I hit the run/off switch to turn on the fuel pump and down she goes to 12.40. I dont think the battery is holding a charge any more, what do you guys think?

 

I would say battery is toasted.

 

As BTL says...battery is toast...
I ran thru 3 batteries in 1 year, last one went dead on the last day of an 8 day trip..
I bought a new battery and attached a volt meter and let my bike idle... showed charging
for about 18 minutes then the voltage output went wacky.. voltage dropped sharply to below 11 volts...after bike heated up.
I had HD check my charging system (20,000 mile check) ...
I told them about my test...they returned the bike and said the charging system was fine...

couldn't believe it....but did notice they cleaned off all the oil that had "spilled" on the voltage regulator during my prior oil changes.
long story short test your voltage not when idling.. but at about 2500-3000rpm...The voltage at his rpm should be steady and between 14.3 to 14.7 volts
I attached a cheap digital volt meter I got at harbor freight while riding for 5 hours and got steady voltage between 14.3 to 14.7 volts (This is normal). The battery at full
charge should read 12.8 with engine off. After charging the battery the voltage may be up to 13.1 volts....but never below 2.7. anything below 2.7 volts and you will need to make sure it gets a charge before it drops further. Now this is for my '03 NT.
I am guessing the oil on my voltage regulator's connectors would heat up while riding, causing a short and no more charging....strickly running off and discharging battery.

 

i would do battery first as it is cheapest to replace

 

remove your battery and take it to auto zone. They will test it for free.

 

Well I figured out what my battery problem was... and it wasn't the battery. I coughed up money for a new battery today thinking it had to be the problem. Got home, made sure it was all charged up. Put it in the bike, hit the switch and damn if I didn't have the same problem. Engine dummy light comes on and throws code p0562 (low batt voltage). So now I have a short some where, but not enough to blow a fuse. Well I hit the passing lap switch and turn them off and the voltage goes up. But if there was a problem there, the lights wouldn't work right. Well at this point I am stumped, and I happen to grab the rear break lever and my break light (Kuryakyn Panacea tail light) comes on. That would be normal, but the controller unit that makes the rear tail light work right is set to flash the break light 5 times. Guess what, no flashing. Well after flipping the 2 switches on it to make sure I didn't change something by accident, I disconnected it, cleared my fault code, and now diagnostics run clean.

After some reasearch I couldnt find just the Panacea tail light controller by itself, so I think Im going to go back to the stock tail light, but now I need either a relocation kit for the rear signals (detachable sissy bar) or some different signals that wont interfear with the detachable sissy bar. I guess Kuryakyn electronics aren't that good since I have had the tail light for about a year and the controller is broken. Anyone have any Ideas on some new signals or a relocation kit? I dont like the HD kit that replaces the stock stalks with the 1/4" round tubes.