Alternator/Charging Gremlins + Wire question

[Lucien Harpress]

My latest issue with my bike has been electrical in nature- basically, my battery won't charge. I took a voltmeter to it a few days ago, and got an initial (bike shut off) reading of about 11.5 and then a running reading of about 11.65-11.7. I still need to check the battery (which I'm hoping is the problem), but in the meantime I have ANOTHER question.

I checked the connections to the alternator mentioned in the FAQ on this site, the green/brown one and the one with three white wires. HOWEVER: on the second connection, I have three white wires on one side (coming from the alternator), but FOUR on the other!

My XS is a 1980 Standard; is this something that's normal, or not?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Lucien,

On the ALT side of the plug, yes, three white wires, on the HARNESS side of the plug, 4 or even 5 white wires, 3 are for the ALT, but the other 2 are for the headlight relay and also for the tach feed!

The green wire from the ALT is what you can tap and run to ground to see if your charging voltage increases....if it does, then the REG/RECT is suspect. If it doesn't then the field coil or stator are suspect. Good Luck!
T.C.