much appreciated! i will give that a shot.. do i keep the multimeter on the same satting i use for the battery voltage test for the initial testing of the stator... sorry im not very good with electrical tools either (just got the multimeter when i got the bike) thank you again for all the help.. im trying to learn as quickly as possible

 

ok... so i found ot there was a extended service plan on the bike from the local dealer, so itook the bike in and they tried blaming it on my "aftermarket" bettery they said that there was a brass washer on the batter preventing a good connection and the negative terminal was loose, they claim to have test ridden the bike with no issue. When i went to pick the bike up it had an empty tank and on my way to fill it up.... boom lights are on again, so i pull the battery and they left the washer on there, i pulled it off and tightened everythign up and lights are still on, so i called a friend of mine who works in the service office at said stealership, he said they will continue to blame it on the battery until i buy a hd batt.... so i guess im on my own again lol