Riding the bike the other day the battery voltage gauge showed 15V when riding around 60Mph. On Idle it was around 14V. The temperature outside was around 48F. Can anybody tell me if this is normal? For me it seems high.

 

Should be normal...Was bike stored (battery down a little)....It takes quite a while for the bike to charge a down battery- not a "round the block" type thing!

BRUCE

 

That is normal, like invest said, battery could be down a little. Normally a fully charged battery will show around 13-13.5 volts with the engine not running, your stator is producing higher A/C current voltage when you're running 60 mph, due to the engines higher rpm. This voltage is passed on to the rectifier which converts the A/C current to D/C current and on to the regulator which limits the max amount of voltage to your electrical system. If voltage was too high from the regulator you would start blowing fuses, tripping fuse links, etc.

 

Yep, the bike was stored (the heck with Michigan weather) and is probably going back to storage for another two weeks at least. And for just the 70 miles I put yesterday today I am feeling kind of woozy. Anyway, back to the voltage regulator. I need to mention that I already blown a tail lamp bulb when the bike had only 65Miles on it. That's why I was concerned. I hope that as the weather improves and I will ride more regularly this will go away.

 

A trickle charger is a good investment- for both your charging system and battery life!

BRUCE

 

Remember that the guage is showing what is going to the battery to recharge it. When the battery is fully charged, it does not have as much charge showing on the guage. I have the battery tender junior. I keep it plugged in whenever I am not riding the bike and the claims are that it will give you many more years of battery life. make sure you give the battery a good recharge by either riding it a couple hundres miles or a battery charger on a slow steady charge.

Good Luck.



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Cal, is this bike still under warrany? How many miles do you have on the bike now? One blown bulb is not really a concern, more than that in a short period would be, if you're still in warranty just let the dealer check the voltage output to be safe. If not still have it checked if you can't do it for peace of mind.

If you have electricity where you store the bike I would hook up a battery tender during the time of storage. A battery discharges 15% of its charge into the air a month while sitting with no charging.

 

I am checking the books for a battery tender. Any suggestions?

 

H/D has one and I'm sure you could find one at Wal-Mart or Pep Boys etc. that might be cheaper.

 

one other thought to keep in mind is that these are "indicators" more than 100% accurate gauges - if the bike is still under warranty you might want to consider getting the gauge replaced telling them you believe it's off a good bit.