Thanks HarleyCharlie, happens at startup cold, has been happening for awhile but always dropped back down to 14v after a block or so, so like a lazy idiot I didnt think much of it till the other day it stayed hi much longer and fried my stereo and my free xm. rig is so old that it had fell off of Sirus list and never got shut off, that truly sucks. Getting anew dvm tomorrow and will start checking voltage drops across the grounds. Does the VR also ground thru mounting bolts? I know where the battery goes to ground to frame, not sure where engine goes to ground (starter?) anyway digging the shop manuals out. Had to do the Stator and VR years ago. Hoping that the stator is ok, just changed primary fluid a couple days ago and it didnt smell burnt. Will be doing all the checks and reporting back.

Thanks to you and HDForums, I never could afford to keep our 2 HD's running otherwise

 

Charlie is right, check your connections and cables.

That is one ugly connector. On the female, stator side I have to wonder what the wire looks like inside the connector that melted, is the wire corroded too? Does the spade fit in the female connector tight? Try fitting a spade on that end and see if it pushes into the connector or is tight. If your stator tests good maybe you could find a connector from a bad one and splice it in. and use dielectric grease in the connector to keep moisture out.

Check your alternator while you are looking at the connector, here's generic instructions I had:

Stator testing
Turn the bike off and disconnect the Stator from the Voltage Regulator.
Testing a 3 phase Stator, (A single phase stator is tested in the same manner but the plug will only have 2 sockets).
The end of the connector from the stator has 3 sockets. Set your meter to ohms and connect one lead to the battery negative. With the other lead make contact with the conductors inside each socket. You are checking for a grounded coil winding, each socket should show an open circuit to ground, no continuity.
Now take both meter leads and check resistance between each of the three sockets, 1-2, 2-3 and 1-3. The resistance should be 0.1 – 0.3 ohm.
Next check the Stator’s AC output. Set the meter to ACV 100V scale. With the Stator unplugged from the VR and the bike in neutral, start the bike. Run the bike at 2,000 rpm and check the Stator output between sockets 1-2, 2-3 and 1-3. The voltage should read approximately 32-46 Volts AC, for the 50 amp Stator. Stators with other Amp ratings will be similar.
If the Stator continuity tests to ground and Phase to Phase are good but the output is not the Rotor may be bad.

One other indication that the stator may be bad is if your primary oil smells like a burnt circuit board.

The Voltage regulator should not allow over 15V. Check to make sure the mounting points of the reg are clean and that the positive and negative lead from the reg to the battery and ground are tight and clean and the wires are good, ohm them out and wiggle to see if the resistance changes, it should be very low.

Good Luck
Bill

 

When the connector looks like that, it's usually the VR and sometimes something beyond the VR on the battery side.

You'll need to replace the connector and more than likely the VR at minimum.
The last connector I changed out was like 5-10 bucks from HD but the VR can be expensive although there are plenty of aftermarket versions for less that work fine. Cycle Electric or the J&P version works well.

If your stator is not shorted or open you'll usually be ok - at least for awhile.
Heat and vibration is the main killer of stators and their life can be drastically lessened when forced to operate so hot the output wires are melting the connector...

 

The spade connector looks bad. The connection was bad enough to cause local heating that started to melt the connector shell. You should replace the female side of the connector as a minimum. If it were me I'd replace both sides.

The 16V spikes dropping back to 14V indicates the voltage regulator is probably bad. Run the tests Vernal mentioned and replace the bad component(s). It's most likely the voltage regulator, but the stator needs to be checked too.

 

Well Good News, the stator is ok

Bad News VR is toast and is going to be a PIA as I have the HD oil cooler installed and the lines run over the top of the mounting bolts @#$$%

I hate running the line along the frame PIA again

Did the voltage drop test to the grounds and they all read the same.

Thanks again Folks, checking on VR's from Cycle Electric to comapre to HD.

 

OK,

HD 74505-02 197.32
Drag Specialty 179.95
JP Cycle- Cycle Electric 187.99

ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-David...FUrp2S&vxp=mtr

Says it replaces the OEM 74505-02 Transpo for 136.79

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARLEY-DAVID...tS0iBl&vxp=mtr

says mfg by Transpo H0502 for 125.00

is Transpo the OEM mfg for HD?

 

Did you check amazon

 

Amazon mfg LActrical 115.00


115.00

 

I'm inclined to think voltage spikes would be the stator grounding out, either internally or the wire going to the VR. Check the entire wire real close for abrasions or cracks. If you can visually inspect the stator, look for breaks in the wire coating or metal particles that have penetrated the wire coating and creating a ground path to the motor.
This if the motor side of my stator that was shorted out when my clutch basket bearing began crumbling and sending bits of metal through my primary. The metal collected on the one arm of the stator, penetrating the wire coating and grounding it out against the motor wall.

 

When changing the VR I found that on the newer EG's it is easiest to unbolt the oil cooler bracket from the frame under the bike and then it is easy to access your VR bolts. 30 minute job max and that includes cleaning while I am under there.