J1 reg/rec test

It may be that the charging system simply cannot provide enough juice for your gloves.

BMW touring rigs, they typically supply a few hundred Watts extra, for all the gizmos you could buy at the dealership. Same with Gold Wings.

Most sport bikes have the smallest/lightest alternators that can support their need in racing configuration. Not very many Watts excess available for use by the operator.

You should generally consider reducing the load somewhere, if you want to add to the demand.

The shop manual you can get here, should provide directions on troubleshooting the charging system.

From the Alternator, you should be getting > 52 VAC in between each pair (all three) of windings... 70+ is better.

After that goes through the rectifier and is turned into VDC, the voltage should be 14+ VDC, with the regulator limiting the upper end to ~14.4 VDC. You should see that at the battery terminals.

This is not a perfect answer to your real question, which is how much work can you take from the alternator before you start starving the battery? That has to be measured in Amperes, and you have to put your meter in series with the battery so you can see the current flow.

Guzziman65 said:

Thanks, I will investigate the LED lighting.

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I would check the system to see if you are in fact at a deficit.... that would take inserting your ammeter (set in DC A') in line with one of the battery leads, so you could see if current is flowing into the battery. Doesn't matter if it's + or -, current has to flow on both sides..... it just matters as whether you'd see a positive or negative value.

If you set it up so you see a positive number when there is current going to your battery you would see a negative number when it is being depleted.

Zero is not a bad thing; it would mean the battery is completely charged and the system is reducing the current flow as expected.

Once you wire in the meter, unplug your headlights, then start the bike. Check to see if you have a negative or positive number... starting the bike will draw the battery down some, so the alternator/rectifier/regulator would have to put current in.

Start the bike, and see if the number is positive at idle.
With the bike running, plug in the headlamps. Did the number stay positive?
If not, rev up the bike to 2-3K RPM. Did the number go positive?

Guzziman65 said:

I have a Garmin sat nav but that is rarely used. The gloves are usually the only things used.

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Take a look at your wiring.... look for any powdery deposits inside the connectors. Particularly the multipin unsealed ones. (Headlights, turnsignals, reg/rec, battery, fuse boxes) If you see anything other than shiny brass color, there's junk on the contacts that has resistance.

When the male and female pins are pushed together, there's usually a dimple on one that scratches the surface of the other contact to make a clean electrical connection. Over years of exposure to the elements, water will enventually find it's way in there, and cause corrosion.

It's usually enough to pull the connectors apart, then re-plug them. That makes the dimple wipe off another spot to restore the connection. If you go through the wiring and take each one apart, you are likely to solve a lot of gremlins......

When/if you decide to give this a go, make sure you have a tube of Dielectric grease handy. Flood each connector before you mate the pins. The grease won't let any air or moisture into the pins to cause any more corrosion. It doesn't conduct electricity, so you are relying only on the point contacts that are what are supposed to be completing the circuit.