| Maintain your Battery and check your charging | | | | dead. You need to check the charging system. |
| system! | | | | With the engine running, place the multimeter leads |
| 9 times out of 10 the reason why your bike won't | | | | on the battery. Rev the engine a little. The system |
| start is usually because of the battery condition or | | | | voltage should rise with engine RPM. A voltage of |
| loose connections. A charging system failure is less | | | | around 13.5 to about 14.5 should be displayed. If the |
| likely but is still possible. | | | | voltage stays constant and/or is slowly decreasing, |
| I will talk about both of them here. | | | | or if the voltage rises above 14.7 volts the charging |
| First look at your battery connections. Check for | | | | system is not functioning. |
| obvious and easiest to fix problems first. A loose | | | | What do you do now? You have to check two |
| connection, poor ground etc. will likely cause | | | | things. The Stator and the Regulator. The stator |
| intermittent operation of the starting and charging | | | | creates an AC voltage. The regulator changes the |
| systems. If you find a loose connection and/or | | | | AC to DC voltage and also maintains that voltage at |
| corrosion, clean the connections with a wire brush. | | | | the proper level. |
| Before re-attaching apply a little grease to the | | | | The Stator can be checked with the Ohms function |
| contact points. The grease helps to prevent any of | | | | on your meter. Locate and remove the plug for the |
| the white corrosion residues building up around the | | | | stator on the front of the engine block. You will see |
| battery terminals. | | | | two or three pins inside. |
| Try and start her up now. You still have a problem? | | | | Set the meter for low Ohms, and measure the |
| Go down to the mall and buy yourself a small | | | | continuity between these pins. 5 Ohms or less is |
| electronic multimeter. (Make sure it has both AC and | | | | what you are looking for here. Set the meter to the |
| DC volt functions, as well as a continuity (or | | | | highest setting. With 1 lead attached to a metal part |
| OHMS)function. Pull out the battery and set it on a | | | | of bike check for continuity to each pin. You meter |
| counter. Set your multimeter to DC volts. Measure | | | | should read infinite, or no continuity. If these tests |
| the Battery voltage by placing the red lead on the | | | | check out then your stator is fine. If there is a fault |
| positive and the Black on the negative. | | | | in any of these tests, then see your dealer |
| The voltage read should be around 12.5 volts (higher | | | | The regulator is the easiest of all to check. The |
| is OK) If the voltage is less than this it may indicate a | | | | regulator is made of solid state electronics and can't |
| poor battery. Notice I say, "may" here because the | | | | be opened. Replace the regulator if everything else |
| bike's charging system might be at fault. In this case | | | | on the charging system checks out or if there is an |
| the battery will most likely be OK. | | | | overcharging situation. |
| Confirm that the electrolyte level in each cell of the | | | | On most Harley's you will not know if the charging |
| battery is good. Add distilled water only to cell's with | | | | system is beginning to fail. The evidence shows up |
| a low level. (Obviously you cannot add water to a | | | | when you have dim lights or she just won't start. |
| maintenance free battery) Charge the battery | | | | There are aftermarket accessories that you can |
| overnight with a slow charger only. Motorcycle | | | | install on your bike that will tell you the current state |
| batteries cannot handle a fast charge. Make sure the | | | | of the charging system. |
| charger only charges at a rate of 2 amps or less. | | | | Save yourself some bucks here!! With a simple |
| Install the battery and try and start her again. If she | | | | multimeter available from any Electronics parts store |
| still won't go buy a new battery and your problem | | | | you can troubleshoot your charging system and |
| will likely be fixed. If she starts and runs like a charm, | | | | check your battery and most likely repair any |
| then you have to find out why the battery went | | | | problems yourself. |