R/R red wire to battery

[jjmaag]

Has anyone ever connected the red R/R wire directly to the battery? I had charging issues today and found a poor connection at the R/R plug. After bypassing with a spade connector I had 13.7 volts at the battery and 14.2 at the new spade connector. I am losing .5 volts thru the harness and fuse panel. Out of curiosity I made a temporary jumper and ran it from the spade connector to the battery. My results were 14.2 volts at the battery and .5-.6volts at all the other fuses in the panel. I have already done the neg. to battery, and everything is working fine now, but .5volt gain seems it would be better.

[duaneage]

Has anyone ever connected the red R/R wire directly to the battery? I had charging issues today and found a poor connection at the R/R plug. After bypassing with a spade connector I had 13.7 volts at the battery and 14.2 at the new spade connector. I am losing .5 volts thru the harness and fuse panel. Out of curiosity I made a temporary jumper and ran it from the spade connector to the battery. My results were 14.2 volts at the battery and .5-.6volts at all the other fuses in the panel. I have already done the neg. to battery, and everything is working fine now, but .5volt gain seems it would be better.

The purpose of the RR is to power the bike. A charged up battery is nice but you need power on the bike or the turn signals will drag, the lights will be dim, and the lower voltage will lead to problems everywhere,

Find and correct the voltage drop. It could be in the ignition switch, the connectors to the fuse box, or a splice a PO did you're not aware of.

If you do go right to the battery install an inline fuse of at least 15 amps. Failure to do so creates a hazard and we want you around for a while

[jjmaag]

I bypassed the ignition switch and checked voltage drop across the fuse panel, cleaned the plugs and terminal ends and nothing seemed to make a difference. It is either just voltage drop across the wires or a splice inside the harness. The only issue I see with hooking it direct to the battery is making sure not to get the two 15 amp fuses in parallel and making a 30 amp circuit.

[duaneage]

I bypassed the ignition switch and checked voltage drop across the fuse panel, cleaned the plugs and terminal ends and nothing seemed to make a difference. It is either just voltage drop across the wires or a splice inside the harness. The only issue I see with hooking it direct to the battery is making sure not to get the two 15 amp fuses in parallel and making a 30 amp circuit.

It could very well be the wires. If they are green and corroded they will have higher resistance. Wire is cheap, I would replace the wire with 14 ga and install new bullet connectors where needed. You can extract the wires from a connector by releasing the tab inside with a toothpick.

I would spend the time to replace the wires, I ran new 8ga to the solenoid and a new ground lead. Made a difference for my bike.

[jjmaag]

Thanks. I appreciate the info. I'll look into that.

[J_C]

Check the battery leads! I replaced mine and fixed 95% of my charging problems