if you don't understand the post actuate your power windows in your car at idle and watch the rpm fluctuate

 

Ash- I went by HD north texas yesterday and picked up a tender/charger. I asked them about checking everything out because I trusted them more than Allen and they told me warentee work was warentee work no matter what HD it was with.

UPDATE: Put the bike on the charger lastnight that I got from HD and the battery did need some charging but with periodic checks the tender only needed about an hour to fully charge the battery. So it looks like I might be looking at a bad starter, voltage regulator, or the bike has a ground short somewhere. I plan on taking it to HD tomorrow morning and letting them have a go at it.

 

You said it originally was so dead that it didn't start and needed a jump.
If the battery wasn't totally dead when you put it on the Battery Tender then the system must have partially charged it on your ride home. Besides, if the charging system wasn't working you would have driven home only using what little juice that was left in the battery to operate the coil and other electronics on the bike and wouldn't have made it too far.
I think it's possible that you just ran the the battery a little low from short rides and frequent stop and go starting and charging and it never got fully recharged from riding around.
It takes a while for the system to fully charge a battery after just one start with a full battery to start with. If the battery is partially drained when you try to start it that would drain it alot further and take the system even longer to get it back to a full charge.

I would take it for a good half hour ride today without stopping and shutting the bike off. Then when you get home turn it off and see if it starts.

If it starts, the problem is what I described above and everything is resolved.

Then don't forget to put it back on the Battery Tender and leave it connected till you take it out again because you just put a drain on the battery starting it.

 

Sorry if there was some confusion but here is the short version that might put things in better perspective
-2 weeks ago had to jump after 10 mile drive to friends house and left the ignition switch to on for about 20-30 min.
-no problems since
-started bike and drove 30 miles to my friends and sat for a short while maybe an hour
-went from friends to another friends about 10 miles back streets
-group ride to chasers about 8 miles back roads
-bike sat for about 30 min and started fine
-rode to Rino's about 15 miles highway
-bike sat completely off for 5 hours
-Bike would not start
-jumped bike and tail light running light was intermitant
-rode to first friend house about 15 miles back streets
-got to first friends house and bike sat for about 30 min
-started up and drove home about 30 miles highway
-got home and running light was inop
-got tender yesterday and only took about an hour to fully charge

Hope this gives an easier timeline to follow as to what happened on sunday
maybe there us a short somewhere idk, I hate trying to chase gremlins lol

 

Yeah I thought you were talking about getting maintenance done too. Hopefully those guys can figure it out and it doesn't break you.

 

Charging system does not "kick in" at 3k, and does not "lock in". The alternator provides less output at lower rpm because of the limitations of the system to produce electricity at low rpm, simple as that.

With these small batteries, when it is discharged to the point that it won't turn the motor over, it really needs to be slow charged at 2 amps or less back to full capacity. Charging it faster (higher amperage) can cause a diminished capacity. At normal running rpm, the bikes charging system provides significantly more than 2 amps.

A cars charging system charges at the same voltage as a Harley. The battery actually acts as a large resistor in the system that keeps the voltage under 14v. Disconnecting a battery cable while an engine is running will cause the charging system voltage to jump up as high as 17v. Jumping a Harley from a car that is running will NOT cause any bulbs to burn out.

It is possible for a cars alternator (if it's a high output alternator) to cause damage to a bike's charging system if you rev the car's motor while jumping a bike from a car. As long as the car is only idling, it is not producing high enough output to do any damage.

Cars still charge all the time, regardless of accel or decel. As far as hybrids go, you are confusing the battery in the engine compartment (the one that powers the ignition, lights, and starter motor) with the battery bank that powers the electric drive. The regular automotive battery in the engine compartment is always kept fully charged. The battery bank for the electric drive is charged differently. Hybrids have a special braking system that converts kinetic energy (inertia) into to electricity to charge that battery bank. That's not the only way the battery bank gets charged though. It also gets charged on demand by the charging system.

 

Good to see some else with an understanding of how electrics work.

 

IMO....from past experience, it is best to replace the battery. Once they go dead, recharging won't last long. The damage has been done.

As far as your other electrical issues, check for shorts on the wires, especially the ones that were messed with when you changed out the bars.

 

It rather depends on why the battery went flat in the first place.

 

Going by the info he posted.
And, as I have seen many times with cars.

The problem could be as simple as a loose or corroded battery connection.
Sometimes a ground wire.

This would cause the battery not to charge completly even when the charging system is working.

A loose or corroded battery connection is also capable of not being able to start a motor even though the battery is charged.

Oh, and of course make sure no fuses are blown.

I always check the simple stuff first.