I have an 06 XL1200L with 23,000n mi. and my check engine light and my Bat light have come on. I put a new battery in about a year ago. Can I extract codes from this bike, since it is a carberated engine. Wish I had the patients to add my pictures. Looks complicated.

I charged the battery, connected a volt meter and went for a ride. It doesn't drain fast but it looses charge. Went down to around 11.56 volts and hung around there.

Thanks, all connectors are clean, all fuses good. I can only find 1 relay that is good.

 

Check the charging system and the battery, and connections/fuses/relays.

With a meter, start the bike and measure the battery voltage.
The voltage should go up to about 14 volts when you rev the motor.

Shut the motor off but leave the key on and the battery should do 12 volts.

I would start with cleaning all the connections, at the battery, grounds, fuses, relays, regulator connectors.

Brett

 

The procedure for reading the Diagnostic codes is described in a Sticky thread at the top of this section.


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X2 on the codes...but I'll bet a dollar to doughnuts it's the stator. Mine went out this week at 24.5k on my 06

 

I had Bruce Rossripoffmeyer replace the stater at around 20,000 mi, last year. It was on the warranty. They also scratched the powder coat on the engine. Anyway, I checked the battery and it was almost dry. Put distilled water in it and charging now.

 

Overcharging - of sorts. The water boils out over time but if it happens quickly and/or you smell battery acid, it's from overcharging. High loads on the battery can cause this as well. High drain = high charging current = boiling water.

Sealed lead acid batteries aren't actually sealed, they're just harder to get into.

 

I had the same problem happen, check engine and battery light on. The dealer replaced the regulator and checked the stator. The lights came back on 1 hour after I left the dealer. Turned out to be a loose ground connection. On the primary side, were the starter attaches, is a very important ground connection. Engine vibration can loosen the connection or even break the wire internally and cause a lot of "Ghost" problems.

 

I charged the dam battery and hooked it to a volt meter. It took a charge. But when I went for a ride it lost it's charge. Can I add distilled water, or should I put acid in it.

 

Water only.