Went for a 30 minute ride, data logged, and battery voltage is spot on. Hopefully it stays that way.
Rkbuell - been there done that a couple of times. That was what I was thinking before I narrowed it down to the connector.
DSHUMAKER - follow the charging system diagnosis flow charts in manual. Actually pretty simple to do. If they all check out then maybe it's just the 77 connection. Hope you spend less time figuring it out then I did!
That's my plan some time this week. I figure it's the vr or the stator from the way it acts but figure it gives me an excuse to bust out the blast until I can get it nailed down. I was on a group ride yesterday and the volt meter on the bike went from 13.7v to a steady voltage drop to 3.2v before the cluster went dead and the bike finally died. Luckily I made it a half mile or so from my house before it died.
Hell it gives me a chance to find my oil light gremlin too. when the bike gets wet the oil light comes on the bike dries and the light goes off. Lol that's what I get for going on fund raising rides. Saturday I attended a ride and bike wash for diabetes.... oil light. Yesterday ride to raise money for injured vets..... no charge. Maybe on the next ride I'll have to rebuild and big bore it because I've locked it up lol
My issue was at the wires going into the vr. I do voltage guages in my dash on all my buells now,,its nice to monitor the voltage,anyway so I would start the bike and watch the voltage drop, and do the wiggle test at the vr and my voltage would go back up and stay good till next ride, then same thing, good job on finding the wore out spot on the wire.
ok so I broke out the volt meter and stated probing around. At the stator connection I'm getting 18.4v ac at idle and and 34.6v ac at 2000 rpm and peaks at 65v ac when you Rev it. At the plug from the vr to the battery it a pretty steady 14 to 14.5v dc at idle and given some gas. All of the wiring and plugs look good. I'm glad things are checking out but I'm still a bit stumped.
both your DC at battery terminals and AC stator output are fine. what are you stumped about? the 77 plug behind pulley cover? it happens.
ok so I think I might have found my problem the plug from the vr to the battery.... one of the prongs on the female side looks a little scorched. so when I plugged it back together it wouldn't change again wiggle the plug and it changes again
That's the infamous 77 plug. Sounds like the scorched prong sounds like the arcing some have reported. Read other threads were the plug melted. If the plug is good you might be able to clean it up. There is a clip at the base of each side were the wires go into the plug that you can remove and then remove the wires to get easy access. Just remember which wire from the VR goes on which side as they are all black. Learned that one the hard way. Had to look at the schematic and then trace the wires back to the VR to figure out which went to the red wire on the other plug and which went to the black. Use some tape to or wire to wrap around the VR wire that mates with the red, or black, wire. HD sales the upgraded connector. Don't know how much as I am hoping I fixed mine. Ran fine today. Ordering a voltage gauge from lunatic so I can monitor it while riding instead of relying on the CEL and battery voltage from data logging, which aren't very helpful until you have a problem. Glad you weren't too far from home.
I noticed while messing with my wires that the wire to the oil sensor had wiggled off just a bit, which might be causing the oil light coming on when wet. Easy check while you are in there.
^^^^^ that wire matt is ground source. it is looped end which presses firmly onto oil sensor pronged tip. must be very clean and snug fitting when you put it on the oil sending unit. like the 77 connector it functions is a pretty dirty environment.
I can attest to that! Mine was a wee bit dirty. amazing how quickly crap builds up down there. On the BIKE!!!Originally Posted by lunaticfringe
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