Now it's the charging system...

[NewRider]

My fixer upper is now turning into frankenstein's monster...Got through all the carb and ignition system problems, and I've finally gotten my bike on the road, but the battery isn't charging up during.  It charges just fine on the trickle when it's sitting in the garage, and I did have the batt. checked at a local retailer.  I have replaced the voltage regulator but the issue didn't go away.  Now I'm running into the problem of what to check next...Is there a good way to test if I've got current coming from the alternator?  How about testing the rectifier?  I went over the wiring pretty throughly on those components, and I don't see any loose connections, etc.  Any help you give will be greatly appreciated, as always!!!  I'd like to have the old girl fully operational by the end of the season so that I can spend the winter working on aesthetics...Thanks!!!

[micallen]

Same issue on my 81.

[czechbiker]

Check to see that the side cover for the rotor and stator is not cracked at the bottom bolt. # bolts hold this cover on on my 750k. If the cover was cracked by overtightining it will be out of round and the stator may be shorting out by touching the rotor. An easy test is to put a DC volt meter across the battery posts and run the motor up to about 4000 rpm's. You should read 14vdc accross the battery terminals. Continue to raise the rpm's to 6000 to7000 and make sure the voltage does not climb past 14vdc. If you don't get 14vdc at the bat., susspect thr stator or rotor. If the voltage rises above 14-15vdc, susspect the regulator. Test each component seperatly as per mannual instructions.