So I have finally started my journey of starting my project that I have had for the past three years. OK let me start from the beginning. I bought this bike 3 years ago with intention of turning into a cafe racer and of course I let it sit because back then I had nowhere to work on it and got frustrated when I couldn't solve the electrical issues it had. The person who I bought it from rewired the bike with minimal wiring, no starter, nor signal lights. Also it had a failing ignition switch which took me a while to figure out because on the back of it was a wire trying to come loose so it would make contact at times and sometimes it wouldn't. I replaced and didn't mess with it after that.
So now three years have passed and finally have some space, money, and time to actually work on it. OK so I started working on the bike and since I hadn't heard it run since I first bought it, I decided I would clean carbs and try to see if I could figure out the electrical wiring and try to start it. I did figure out a little of what he was doing so I put a battery on her and started her up within the third kick of course it didn't run very well since the carbs were not tuned and I'm going to assume he put pod filters without putting higher flowing jets. OK so then I decide to make sure my charging system was in check before doing any other work on the bike.
I checked initial voltage on battery, 12.26V, ignition off. 11.98V ignition and headlight on. Started the bike and had 11.88, not charging, I'm guessing. I rev to 2000 rpm I get 11.98 volts. Rev to 5000rpm and get 12.65V. I knew that was too low of numbers. I kind of jumped the gun and bought a reg/rect. And of course the problem persisted. Wont be spending money again without checking it out first from now on. oh also just so everyone knows The headlights and taillights are all wired where they come on as soon as you put the bike on the on position. I know that drains the battery but I don't believe that would be causing my charging issue.
Now I went to testing as I was reading through forums about bikes having similar issues with mine.
Tested the Reg/Rec and got numbers all within the same range and within spec.
Next I tested the Field coil and got a 5.1 ohm rating which I believe is within spec, correct me if I'm wrong please.
Next I checked the continuity of the stator and got .6 ohm on. all yellow wires, which is within spec.
I decide to look at my grounds next and noticed the regulator ground wire wasn't connected to the frame but connected to a wire that would connect to the ground of the taillight, the ground of the headlight, and odometer, that same wire connected to the battery's ground connection along with the starter ground, which in turned the whole bike into ground.i decided I would test the voltage with the ground from the reg/rect connected directly to the battery ground. Sure enough I had good charging voltage, had 12.80 at 2000 rpm and about 14.1 at 5000rpm
Just to make sure my problem was solved I wanted to check the a/c voltage on the stator and was getting really low numbers, at least from my understanding I believe are low.
I was getting about 11.89 at low idle about 12 at 2000 rpm and about 13.2 at 5000 rpm.
now that is my current issue and at a stump and just really want to make sure the stator is at fault before laying any cash.
by the way I just bought a new Klein multi-meter because the other multimeter was making me do math work.
Any advice or suggestions id appreciate guys. thank you
