Bike electrical out

[DoubleJ]

I put in a new battery last night and rode to work this morning, on the way home about 5 miles from the house i lost all electronics on the bike, no speedo no lights nothing. I was able to make it home but as i pulled into the driveway the bike sputtered and died...Any ideas?
I pulled the battery and took it back to the store to get a load test run on it, its still there charging they said it was going to take better than 45 minutes to charge? I wouldnt think that the bike could run down the battery after one day of only 100 miles?

Right now im just waiting to see if i got a bad battery, i will head back up to the store in a bit.

[DoubleJ]

Just got the battery back, load test was fine hook up the battery and no power. fuses seem to be ok going out to check all the connections...anyone have any other ideas?

[DoubleJ]

well after i checked all the fuses and got em all back in everything worked, go figure. guess i will keep an eye on it for a couple of days.

[Unforgiven]

Was it doing this before you put the new battery in? Sounds like something that will leave you stranded when you least want it.

You may check the ground cable. That would be the first place I would check if you are certain the battery isn't internally shorting.


UF

[Dan]

I had this same issue and still haven't actually gotten to the bottom of it. My sporty did this same thing, and what I did find and Im not exactly sure its the problem, is the negative post was hitting the down tube where the battery resides. After about an hour of a dead bike I moved the battery and re-tightend the battery strap and bike started no problem. I am thinking the post on the battery hitting the tube made the post itself on the battery loose and the batter is ultimately fugged, the connection for the cable to the post is tight so I know its not that.

Another odd thing I noticed is when I put a volt meter on the battery while it was dead if I went 1 wire to the hot post on the battery and the negative to a ground other than the negative post it would only show 5.47 volts but if I went 1 to hot and 1 to ground directly on the battery itself it went to 12+ volts. After moving the battery I get 12+ volts either way I test it.

[Ironhead]

sounds to me like possibly a loose wire, or possibly even a fuse was loose. keep us posted

[Crocodile56]

I been thinking this one over for a hour and I lean to a loose main ground......or a short in the battery plates!

[Ironhead]

might check stator plug too

[gtoracer]

Just a thought DJ, Have you checked the charging system? If the bike is making 14v, it should run on the charge and not need the battery. I don't know if it works on a Harley but if your car is running and the alternator is good you can unhook the neg cable and the motor will still run. Why did you have to replace the battery to begin with?....Glenn

[DoubleJ]

Glenn, the battery i had in there ran down to nothing and would not hold a charge, it was 5+ years old.

Checked the stator plug Josh, it seems to be ok, it was fairly gunked up when i checked it the day i changed the battery.

Croc they ran a load test on the battery and said it was good. Could it still have a short in the plates?

Also what is the best way to test the charging system? I decided not to ride into work until i can make sure its not the charging system.

[gtoracer]

DJ, I found this on the net.....Glenn

The charging system is not complicated on a Harley, but you should check it in the order suggested in the manual. Since yours is an 883, I'll assume it's 1986 or later. The 4 speeds and 5 speeds have slightly different specs, but general procedures are the same for all the alternator equipped models. You'll need an ac/dc volt meter at least, and an ohm meter. A load tester and some other tools are nice to have too.

1. Check battery voltage and specific gravity. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be working on your charging system. If the battery is not fully charged, charge it or replace it with a known good one, at least temporarily. Perform a load test on the battery. If you can't do that, make sure the battery is fully charged and have a shop load test it for you. Have the load set at 57 amps for 15 seconds. The battery is good if it maintains 9.6 dcv or better at the end of the 15 seconds. Now you have to recharge the battery before you go any further.

2. With the battery back in the bike, fully charged, check the voltage. It should be 12.6 to 12.8 dcv. This is for the older (pre 97) batteries that have fluid caps. The newer batteries that are sealed are considered fully charged when they have 13.0 dcv.

3. Did the battery terminal spark at all when you connected the battery cables? If so, and the key switch is off, you've got a static drain while the bike is sitting idle. I won't go into detail on how to find it, but basically a component is drawing current when everything should be turned off. You're not leaving the key in the acc position accidentally, right? You can have a static drain even if there's no spark, but a significant drain will create a small spark when you make the final battery connection (not a good thing if your freshly charged battery is still emitting hydrogen gas. BOOM!)

4. Turn on the lights, and apply the brakes, but don't start the bike. What is the battery voltage now? It should not be more than one volt less than it was with everything off. That's a poor man's load test. Not in the manual, just tossed it in for free.

5. Start the bike and run it at 2,000 rpm, or a very fast idle if you have no tach. What is the dcv at the battery now? It should be 13.5 - 14.5 dcv at 2,000 rpm. If not, you've got a charging problem. Since you have verified that the battery is ok in the previous steps, you know there's a component problem on the bike. It may be an actual component, or it may be the wiring between components, but it's not the battery. Wiring is a component too, but most people don't think of it that way. They think, regulator, stator, rotor, battery.

6. I'll skip the amp output test since most people don't have the instruments to measure more than 10 dc amps, in conjunction with a variable load to apply to the battery to maintain a constant 13.0 dcv during the amp test. That's not to say the amp output shouldn't be done...

7. Check the regulator ground. From the regulator case to the battery negative terminal should be less than 1 ohm. If not, clean the grounds and start over.

8. Check the resistance of the stator windings. Sounds like you did that. Use the specs in the manual for your bike. Also check for a stator that's shorted to ground. It would suck for the alternator to be making good acv, but sending it all straight to ground. If you find a problem with the resistance in the windings, or you have a short to ground, it's time to remove the primary cover and take a closer look.

9. Check the ac output from the stator. If you've got ac output, and the regulator is properly grounded, and you've got a good battery, and the connections are all good, then you've got a bad regulator. The stator/rotor (referred to as an alternator) are putting out ac voltage, but the regulator is not properly converting it to dc, or it's converting it properly, but is shunting it to ground, or the regulator is internally open. In any case, the regulator is NFG. Get a new one installed and start over.

10. That's about it, I think. This was from memory; the manual should have a better description of all the tests. Don't think I skipped any...

Also this Web site: http://www.sjhr.org/articles/repair01.htm

[MrMarty51]

Possible terminal to wire has a bad connection.
"MOST" motorcycle batteries call for a to be charged at two amps for twenty four hours before installation.
It is too early,I`ll post more as I awaken.:):)

[Ironhead]

if everything is fine now DubJ, I would say it was most likely a loose connection somewhere (fuse, wire terminal, etc) and when checking everything you fixed it and didn't realize it. take it for a few test rides, 15 minutes, then 1/2 hour, etc and see if everything is holding out.

BTW, sorry I missed your call, I had cell phone shut off and on the charger when you called.

[DoubleJ]

if everything is fine now DubJ, I would say it was most likely a loose connection somewhere (fuse, wire terminal, etc) and when checking everything you fixed it and didn't realize it. take it for a few test rides, 15 minutes, then 1/2 hour, etc and see if everything is holding out.

Thats what im hoping...I did check the output from the stator and it is shows 40v at 2,000 rpm so I dont think thats my problem. I will take it on rides locally to test it though I didnt wanna take off for work this morning and have the same thing happen, It's 50 miles one way.

BTW, sorry I missed your call, I had cell phone shut off and on the charger when you called.

No worries, kinda sucked when i got home the biked died and i went inside to boot up my laptop and get on the forums to research it and my internet was down.

[DoubleJ]

well the battery is still not staying charged, hooked the multimeter up and tested the battery while running at 2-3k rpm and its staying steady at 12.3V. Stator is putting out 40V at 2k rmp. gonna double check everything but I'm thinking its a bad regulator.

Looks like J&P has them for around $50-60, anyone have a different recommendation on where i might get one?