| OK Harv, You've confirmed that alternator is OK and since you are sure of the wires we can be fairly certain that the AC volts are getting to the regulator. So lets start looking at the alternator output.
Once again set the meter to read ohms, this time connect one lead to the battery positive and connect the other to the red lead from the regulator. No need to run the engine. You should get a reading of 0 ohms on the meter (or as near as damn it) This indicates that there is a good connection between the battery and the regulator. If you don't get 0 ohms you should be looking for a break in the circuit somewhere. The only thing between the regulator and the battery is the 30A fuse. Is the fuse OK? Check it's blades and the fuseholder for corrosion. This can lead to high resistance and a poor connection. Similarly check the connections at the regulator and the battery. If these are all OK thne look for a break in the cable.
If the connection between the regulator checks out OK then that only leaves 2 possiblities. The new regulator is faulty or the battery is faulty. A faulty battery which doesn't show any increase in volts when the engine is revved would need to be short circuit internally and would get hot at any attempt to charge it. Given that it takes a charge on the optimate and starts the bike OK it can't be that bad. Swapping the battery for another would prove this either way.
I doubt if there is anything on the bike pulling the volts down. The alternator puts out 350 watts - thats nearly 30A at 12V. Anything pulling that amount of power would get red-hot pretty quick.  |