A freind of mine has a 2005 sportster 883 .
A week ago his battery died and the bike wouldnt start .
He was on a benefit ride .Abought 50 miles in to the ride he said he put the turn signal on and all of the sudden he noticed it went out.
Before he came to a stopthe battery light came on and the engine light came on .
We looked over the bike for a loose conection or blown fuse and found nothing noticably wrong.
We got the bike home and check the batery cables . seemed o.k but not as tight as I like them .
Anyways we figured it was his battery,
He bought a new battery , cleaned up terminals and rode the bike 3 times or abought 100 miles.
Called me tonight and said the lights seemed a little dim , He stopped for gas , came home and noticed at idle the engine light came on and off 2 vor 3 times.
Shut it off then restarted the bike 3 times. O n the 4th try the bike would not turn over .Dead battery.
Hes trickle charging the battery for an hour or so on 2 amps.
Checked and cleand any dirty looking wires .all seemed o.k.
Where is the ground for the regulator ???
Could it be a bad regulator ??
We herd that it could be the stator ? He took off the small cover where you check the primary chain , smelled a little funny , but not positive,Not a puky smell ??Herd it has a nasty smell if it goes bad ,
bike has abought 9200 miles on it ..
Any easy solutions ?Should he try a new regulator ?
Dont have a tester but may have to but one .
If its the stator how much for parts ????
Can an average mechanicaly inclined person change the stator ??
Sorry so long ..Thanks a lot for any info and help..Weather is now nice and we would like to ride ...

 

Hello,

If I where you I would check the load voltage first, it should be around 14,5 volts DC. If it is higher it damages the battery, if it is lower then 12 volts there is no load voltage. WHen the voltage is to high the regulator is fried.

When there is no volts, check the regulator wiring this could be damaged. Also you can check whether there is voltage on the primary side of the regulator, this is AC voltage. When there is no voltage the stator or rotor could be damaged, also check the plug from the stator to the regulator.

A broken rotor or stator is not common, a regulator gone broke is something that could happen.

Let me know what you found, and can help you on your way.
btw do not use a carr charger for a gell battery this will do them no good ( i found that out meself).

Regards Bootsy.

 

We got it fixed .
Costhim $80.00 for a new battery that we more then likely didnt need .Bike will be 3 years old next spring .
Also spent $23.00 on a new digital tester with very good instructions .
I first checked the new battery after it was recharged last night .It read a little over half charged so I finished charging it to full charge . I beleve it was around 12.70
I then checked the battery groud. It was good . clean and tight.
Next I took off the voltage regulator to check for corrosion and ground .
Ground was good,
Snap tight plug in was good and clean.
BUT the roung plug in that connects the regulator to the stator was VERY corroded .
I took emery cloth and very fine sand paper and cleaned the male terminals .
I then clean and checked the female terminal .
Seams like the male terminal off the regulator was the culprit .
Anyways I put some electrical gew on the plug reconected everything and installed the same regulator on the bike ,
Started it up and the output was 14.3 -14.7 .
With no tach I guessed at the rpms . approx. 2000 rpm+ or -
Rode the bike abought 55 miles and restarted it 5 - 6 times checked the battery and it was 100 %.
I believe probblem solve .
Ifwe took it to the STEALERS $200. to $850. ????[8D]

 

Perfect.The voltage you got is what you were looking for. After 3 years it's usually time to think about buying a new battery anyway.I got 4 years out of mine. Ya done good.

 

Good stuff!

You don't need to be ripped by those so-called experts, there is a lot you can do yourself. I would keep a close eye on the connector for the comming months to be sure.