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thanks to Sam Ferris on a local forum for explaining this to a guy who knows little about electrical system tests. But heres what you need to do if your having a charging problem:
1) Charge the battery overnight (7~12 hours), not to exceed 24 hours. Being a bike you should charge at a very low rate, like 1-2 amps. You may exceed 24 hours if you are using a ‘smart charger’.
2) Disconnect charger and allow battery to stand for 30 minutes to an hour. Check the battery voltage with a digital voltmeter. The voltage should be around 13.3~13.5. If the voltage is less than 12.5, replace the battery.
3) Install known good battery into bike and start engine. After warm-up, bring engine speed up to 5000 rpm and measure the battery voltage at the same time (DC or DCV setting on your voltmeter). The voltage should be about 14~14.5 volts. If the voltage is greater than 15, the problem is most likely the rectifier/regulator. If the voltage is less than 13.5, then it’s either the alternator (stator coil) or the rectifier/regulator, or possibly even both.
3a) SIDE NOTE: A problem that seems to occur with sportbikes rather frequently is the 3-terminal stator coil connection fails and the resultant heat from the I*R drop melts the connector. In addition, the red-wire contact on the rectifier/regulator connector also has a history of oxidation/corrosion. Be sure to check these, clean them and use new dielectric grease!
4) To check the stator coil (alternator), measure the AC (AC or ACV setting) output voltage between all three stator leads (1 to 2, 1 to 3, 2 to 3). To do this unplug the connector, start the bike and test each pair with your voltmeter. The AC voltage should be at least about 10 volts AC for every thousand of engine rpm. Test the AC output voltage up to about 5000 rpm.
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