Man when it rains it pours. Working on replacing a CD player, just added new tires, had air in my rear brakes and now MAYBE this. Got on my bike yesterday and my voltage meter which is located down close to the steering stem and I noticed all the led lights were not on. Usually have 2 greens on or its showing I think around 14. After riding as a escort at a 5/10K run and a 240 mile ride yesterday, all the lights are out now but the last one or two which are now blinking red and this is in the 8-10 volt range. Bike is starting and running fine the battery is 2 yrs old this month and I am wondering if the alternator is getting ready to go out. Am I correct in this thought? Never had one go out before and shutter to think what this may cost. What can you folks tell me on this? Bike is a 02 1800 model and just rolled it over to 65,000 miles yesterday.
I am definitely not the electrical guy on this forum, but the first thing I would do is put a meter on the battery before starting the bike, and then immediately after starting the bike. A two year old battery can be more subject to failure, in my thoughts, than the alternator. If the battery does not show adequate charge voltage immediately after starting the bike, test it again in about a minute. It should show definitely over 14 volts immediately after starting the bike and may drop to just below 14 after about a minute. If it does not do this, and shows lower readings, the first suspect would be the voltage regulator, and then the alternator. I hope this helps.
It ain't about the destination - it's all about the journey
Flyn Tiger wrote:Man when it rains it pours. Working on replacing a CD player, just added new tires, had air in my rear brakes and now MAYBE this. Got on my bike yesterday and my voltage meter which is located down close to the steering stem and I noticed all the led lights were not on. Usually have 2 greens on or its showing I think around 14. After riding as a escort at a 5/10K run and a 240 mile ride yesterday, all the lights are out now but the last one or two which are now blinking red and this is in the 8-10 volt range. Bike is starting and running fine the battery is 2 yrs old this month and I am wondering if the alternator is getting ready to go out. Am I correct in this thought? Never had one go out before and shutter to think what this may cost. What can you folks tell me on this? Bike is a 02 1800 model and just rolled it over to 65,000 miles yesterday.
If you are at 8-10 volts, the bike would not be "starting fine" - it won't be starting at all. Go ahead and hook up a multimeter directly to the battery and measure the voltage there, both at rest and while running.
It's quite possible the connection between the battery and your voltmeter has gone bad, which is restricting voltage to it.
Working on replacing a CD player, just added new tires, had air in my rear brakes and now MAYBE this. Got on my bike yesterday and my voltage meter which is located down close to the steering stem and I noticed all the led lights were not on. Usually have 2 greens on or its showing I think around 14. After riding as a escort at a 5/10K run and a 240 mile ride yesterday, all the lights are out now but the last one or two which are now blinking red and this is in the 8-10 volt range. Bike is starting and running fine the battery is 2 yrs old this month and I am wondering if the alternator is getting ready to go out. Am I correct in this thought? 
Never had one go out before and shutter to think what this may cost. 
What can you folks tell me on this? Bike is a 02 1800 model and just rolled it over to 65,000 miles yesterday.
