Problem is my voltage fluctuates from 10 to 13.7 and one of my turn signal shows the voltage drop to but not the others. any ideas where I should start?

 

Look for broken insulation on the wires in each circuit that shows the fluctuation while you are using it. Those broken wires may be grounding out on something. Also, check your ground cable going to the frame from the battery.

 

What year is your bike? 2012's had a recall (I think) on voltage regulators.

 

is the fluctuation on all circuits or just something in specific? If all circuits, I would be looking for
1. check your battery connection and make sure they're free of corrosion and that they are tight. make sure the ground is tight and clean at the frame
2. how old is the battery?
3. voltage regulator

 

it is 2004 EGlide, I replaced the battery yesterday, I cleaned all the grounds to the frame and checked all the connectors. when I started it the system performed to spec 14.3 volts, shut it off, put t back together for a test drive and when i took it out for a test drive the problem started again after a mile or so, Voltage went from 8 to 12 while i was driving. I stopped to get gas started it up and the problem was gone. if it is regulator wouldn't the problem be all the time.

 

A good way to tell if the regulator is bad is to take it out on a 10-30 mile ride down the highway. If your volt gage slowly goes down as you are riding, it's the regulator. I'm assuming that you have a voltage gage on in your fairing. Eventually a red light will show up on your speedo and then you better ride it home without shutting it off or killing it. It will run poorly at this point too.
Did you pull your signal light circuit apart to examine everything yet?

 

yes it was a bad contact in the light housing, the bullet lights uses plastic isolator that heat seems to be an issue.

 

A voltage regulator is a solid state unit, resistors and capacitors. So it can fluctuate. Start there. And hope it's not the stator. Also check the stator plug, it's down near the regulator. Some times the connections get corroded being low and behind the front tire, alot of crap gets thrown at it.

 

That is what I figured a regulator is good or bad.
I either have bad charging unit or a short some where in the bike. Could an after market radio amp cause this intermittent charging problem?

does someone have an idea which sub system may have such an affect on charging system that may not be fused. lights,radio, fuel management, ECM, Guages


Didnt have that problem prior my repaint job

 

fiddledicksr. there are about 350 wires running throughout that electrical system and any one of those or any component those wires connect into could be the cause of the problem. The trick is being able to step back and think about it logically instead of poking/hoping and spending unnecessary $.

1. A good way to determine if the stator is bad or going south is pull the derby cover off and take a good smell inside. If it's the stator it will emit a smell in the primary that you won't soon forget.
2. A voltage regulator is just that. It regulates voltage throughout your electrical system and it's source for voltage is the stator (or as most think about it as a generator). VRs most certainly do have a tendancy to do weird unexplainable things so yes it could work fine 1 minute and the next could be giving you problems.
3. without a doubt an audio amplified could be causing these issues if 1) it has a bad ground or 2) if it simply has a bad power circuit. This is easy to troubleshoot by simply removing power from the amplifier and see what happens. The likelyhood though in my opinion is pretty low.

I would be looking at the easier things first such as what Ranger73 pointed out in the VR to Stator plug. Make sure that is clean, tight, and put some dielectric grease in that connection.
There is a sticky in the Electrical section on how to properly test your charging system and is worth the couple of minutes to read and follow the procedures.