I have a 2000 softail standard. My battery went slowly dead on a day trip, eventually leaving me push starting it. I figured, it's a six year old battery, so that's it. I took the battery out of my son's 97 sportster, charged it and put it in and it started strong. Went for a ride, as the day went on it started slower and slower until I'm push starting again. If I charge the battery and let is sit in the bike without running it, it stays charged forever, but as soon as I ride it, battery starts to drain. I've looked at my manual and hate what changing the stator looks like, plus I'm low on money now. I can't find any shorts anywere. Any suggestions are helpful.

 

Check to make sure the stator is putting out the correct voltage first. If so, problem might be the voltage regulator. I'm not certain if this link will help as it appeared in the Dyna section.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...ng-stator.html

 

Yup need to check voltage when running, at idle and when revved, but don't remember the rpms

 

Yes it sounds like a charging problem. If you have access to a voltmeter, the voltage at a freshly-charged battery with the engine off should be about 12V. When you crank it up, the battery voltage should jump to about 14 or more volts. This tells you that your charging circuit is working properly. If it doesn't jump at all then you have issues with the charging system.

 

I just noticed by brake/tail light is out completely. The glass on it even had a white coating on it. I replaced it and it works fine. Could that cause a drain? Also, thanks to all for such fast replies. I'm working on it now.

 

Pretty simple. Put a voltmeter on the battery. 12.7 volts with key off, 14+ volts when over 2,000 rpm. If it's not doing that, then pull the inspection cover off the primary and take a whiff. You will smell it if it's the stator.

 

This, plus check out all the fuses.(it couldn't hurt)
If stator is charging poperly, might be time for a new battery.

 

The 2000 Softail service manual provides several testing procedures to identify charging problems. I'll reference two of them. Start with a Known Good Battery, Fully Charged.

1. Unplug the Regulator from the Stator. Start the bike. Test the AC voltage output of the Stator with a multimeter by inserting the leads into the two sockets of the Stator plug. The Stator should output 32 - 40 volts AC at 2,000 rpm's.

2. With the Regulator connected to the Stator, and the bike running, test the DC Voltage output of the Regulator. Measure the DC voltage at the battery at various rpm's. Readings should vary from above 13 but below 15 volts DC at various rpm's.

Note. The Regulator on a 2000 Softail is a 32 amp single phase. When the Regulator builds excess voltage, it dumps the extra volts to ground. The regulator will find ground at the mounting points however if these grounding points fail the regulator will suffer premature failure. Your regulator requires an additional grounding wire which is not sold with the regulator. The grounding wire is a separate part number from Harley however you can simply fabricate one if yours is missing.