What about this one, its Friday arvo with a major run coming up over the weekend and suddenly your bike appears mysteriously to have been given its disconnection notice from the power company, what do you do now?
Yer bro of course I am going to be praying like there's no tomorrow, especially if I don't have a backup bike.
I guess though some might say its time to upgrade your bike now! Others might even say its got to be an EVO for sure! What else could be so reliably unreliable when it comes to electrical circuits?
Volt packs, stators rotors, breakers, insulation and battery ...where do I start?
The most common problem when your Harley wont start is such a simple fix and one of the most common and most embarrassing!
Recently on one of our runs a guest was riding a beautiful old shovel. We were ready to hit the road and to his embarrassment and frustration it wouldn't even turn over.
He had dash lights and accessories every thing seemed normal except the starter wouldn't turn.
It was at this point the bush mechanics stepped in... "maybe your circuit breaker has blown" one said, another suggested to get a screw driver quick and and hot kick it across the solenoid to bypass everything that'll get it to turn over for sure!
Then out of the crowd a hand reached over and clicked off the kill switch, "try that" the level headed helper said. Sure enough the bike fired first kick!
These electrical troubleshooting tests apply to most stock Harley Davidson charging systems.
1) Before Doing Anything Else Check Your Battery Condition:
Voltage |
% Charged |
| 12.6 – 12.9v |
100% |
| 12.2 – 12.5v |
75% |
| 12.0 – 12.2v |
50% |
| 11.5 – 12.0v |
25% |
| 11.5 or less |
0% |
You can use a multi meter, simply select DC (direct current) on the meter and set to the 20 volt scale, place the Red test probe of the meter on the Positive + terminal of your battery and the Black test probe of the meter on the Negative - terminal of your battery. This will give a voltage reading that will indicate the state of charge that your battery is currently at. (see the chart above)
If your battery needs charging, use a SLOW trickle charger, these can recover even a deeply discharged battery.
Quick charging a battery using fast type chargers may shorten the life of your battery due to excess heating and the potential for damaging the plates within the battery.
As a general rule you should disconnect your battery if not riding it and if you intend sit your bike for extended periods. Also preferably leave it on a slow trickle charger when not in use. All batteries do discharge slowly over time, especially when hooked up.
I am fortunate enough to own a battery load tester which quickly trouble shoots faulty batteries. When connected to a battery and switched on tester will simulate a load similar to that of the current required to start your engine.
The load tester has a meter which indicates if the battery is capable of sustaining a load for the set period of time the test takes. If it falls below the scale or sits to the lower end then it is an indication that no matter how much charge is in the battery it just wont have the "muscle" to turn over an engine. Most bike shops or mechanics have one as standard in their tool kit and this may help to diagnose your electrical problem to a faulty battery.
A final word on motorcycle batteries. There are two types, lead acid or wet cell batteries and gel cell sealed type batteries. Whilst the wet cell is cheaper to purchase, I really dont know of any that are actually rated with CCA or cold cranking amps (muscle needed to turn over a starter motor) for motorcycle use.
Wet cell batteries that I have used in my softy have usually lasted anywhere from as little as 10months to 2years. The only wet cell that I have used that was any good was a Japanese Yuasa brand battery. Most if not all wet cells have no manufacturers guarantee against failure.
The best choice of battery I have made was to pay the extra money and switch over to the sealed type dry/gel cell battery. Not only are they rated in CCA but they also come with at least a minimum guarantee service life, they also do not need to be vented and there is no chance of acid bubbling out of them to damage your bike.
My last dry cell has lasted 3years and was still going strong when i replaced it with a new model. My previous one was manufactured by Odyssey and the latest one is from the new range of genuine Harley manufactured (or at least stamped) battery range which cost me from memory round the $240 mark.
2) Check You Charging System Output
*NB* First fully charge your battery before going any further.
A. Check your output voltage from the regulator with the bike running, confirm that the correct charge is getting to
the battery. Simply place
the volt
meter leads with the red to positive + and the black to negative - at a fast idle the voltage should read around 13.5
volts DC.
B. Idle the bike up checking the voltage, it should go no higher than around 14.8. Anything above this would indicate a faulty regulator and can lead to overheating of the battery causing damage and eventually failure of it whilst on the road.
C. A simple but effective way to determine if your charging system is working is to turn on the headlight and bring up your engine RPM, you should notice the headlight getting brighter as you increase the revs.
I had a battery burst once from an overcharging problem which lead to acid pouring out over my startor, gearbox and eating away everything it contacted, this gave me the excuse to rebuild my old softy for the first time!
3) Regulator Voltage Trop Test Test
Ensure the regulator output wire is connected to battery, usually a single wire that runs from the regulator to the positive side of the battery circuit.
Unplug the regulator/volt pack connector at engine crankcase (front left side), it has a black rubber boot with two wires coming from it.
Use a multi meter and turn it to DC Volts, place the negative black lead to earth on the bike and the red positive on either of the pins from the volt pack lead. If you get a voltage reading then this would indicate a faulty volt pack. Repeat this procedure for both pins in the lead that goes back to the volt pack/regulator.
4) Milliamp Draw Test
This test proves there is a voltage drain from your battery that over time will lead to a flat battery when left standing for a period of time. Be sure accessories are not wired so they stay on at all times. Check for this by connecting an ammeter between negative battery cable and battery terminal. With ignition switch and all lights off, there should be no more than three milliamps current.
5) Regulator/Volt pack Inspection
The regulator is normally mounted at the front of the bike on the frame in front of the engine between to the two down tubes. On later models it is an oval shape and on the earlier bikes it is rectangular, types are finned alloy type construction either in chrome or black.
Its base must have a clean, tight connection for proper grounding, first check the mounting screws are tight.
Check the earth continuity by using an ohmmeter/multi meter set to ohms with one lead on a good ground, such as a battery cable, and the other on the regulator base or body and preferably where the screws attach it to the frame.
On your meter you should get a reading that indicates 0.00 if digital and full scale deflection (needle moving all the way from left to right) on an analogue meter.
On my old softail I even went to the trouble of running an additional earth cable direct from the battery to the body of the regulator or as some call it, volt pack to ensure a good earth/ground as I suspected there to be an earthing problem which led to me chewing out a number of volt packs in a short period of time .
6) Total Current Output Test
This test is only necessary if the battery runs down during use, although your charging system maybe putting out 12volts to the battery the actual current produced may not be enough to fill the battery. Amperage is sort of like having a fast flow fuel tap on the tank of your bike but a slow flow filler, eventually what is going out of the tank exceeds what is going into it thus leading to the tank being left empty even though it's being filled at the same time.
To test the current going into you battery you first need to know the output in Amps that is coming from your regulator, your stator and regulator rating output will depend on the model being tested and if it has a high output unit installed. There should be a difference of no less than 85% of its rated output.
Most average multi meters won't be able to cope with the current produced by your charging system, you will need at least an inductive ammeter to continue testing if your meter will not carry the output of your regulator.
To check the output of your charging system place the inductive pickup over the output lead from your regulator and bring your RPM up to about 3000rpm, depending on model you should read approx 26 - 35 amps going into your battery.
Alternatively if your multi meter does operate up to the following range, then you will have to place it in series with the output lead from your regulator to be able to obtain a reading.
Disconnect the regulator lead from the circuit breaker (if installed) that connects to the positive terminal of your battery. Place the positive lead of your meter on the output side of your regulator and the negative lead to the positive terminal of your battery. Bring your RPM upto approx 3000RPM and check your reading in amps and if it falls within the rating of your regulator then all is good.
A secondary test if a circuit breaker is fitted would be to check on the exit side of the breaker, this will prove if your breaker is faulty if you have output before the breaker and none after it.
7) Total Output From Battery
To check for this condition, place the induction pickup or current probe pickup over negative battery cable. Disconnect the regulator from the stator at the connector on the crankcase and start the motorcycle. With the ignition and all continuously running lights and accessories turned on (headlight on high-beam), read the total current draw. Compare this reading to the reading obtained from the Current and Voltage Output Test. The current output should exceed current draw by 3.5 amps minimum. If not, there may be too many accessories for the charging system to handle. Reconnect regulator after test.
8) Stator Check:
Your stator is located on the left side of you engine case and is only accessible once your primary is removed, however the output lead exits at the front left side of the engine case in front of the cylinder base and connects to your voltage regulator.
a) To check for grounded stator, turn off ignition and disconnect the regulator from the stator at the terminal in the crankcase.
b) Connect and ohmmeter on the low scale between crankcase and either stator socket. There should be no continuity across either test points. Any other reading indicates a grounded stator which must be replaced.
c) Check the resistance using an ohmmeter set on the RX1 scale. Resistance should be 0.1 – 0.2 ohms across the stator socket pins. If the resistance is lower, the stator is damaged and must be replaced.
9) AC Output Check:
To test AC output, disconnect the regulator and connect an AC voltmeter across both stator sockets. Run the engine at 2000 rpm. The AC output should be between 32-40 volts AC (16-20 per 1000 rpm). If the output is below specifications, charging problem could be a faulty rotor or stator.
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