I just purchased a 2013 sportsman with 350 miles on it. It looked to be in great shape and I thought I got a great deal. I ran into an electrical issue right away. The bike will start and run fine when used regularly. After sitting for as little as 6 days the battery goes dead. I took battery to auto store who said it was good but in need of a charge. Charged battery but still had same problem after 6 days. Any suggestions?

 

If the store did a load test on the battery and it passed,then then that would eliminate it as the problem.While at an idle what's the reading at the battery? Should be between 14-14.5 volts. If not,shows less or just battery voltage it's usually a faulty regulator. You can check the three yellow stator wires leading to the regulator for resistance. Should be some resistance between each yellow with no yellow shorting to ground. If that checks out then the stator should be ok. Cheaper after market regulators are out there.https://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-...VaJ41m&vxp=mtr

 

Thanks. I will check that today.

 

The battery was so low it would barely turn over after 24 hours. So I checked the battery in diagnostic mode and it read 10.2 and dropping. Would a bad regulator/rectifier cause a battery drain over night? Can anyone tell me where the regulator/rectifier is located on my 2013 Sportsman 500 HO?

Thanks, I hope I did not buy a bike full of headaches.

 

I just checked my battery while bike was at idle and it was 14.4 volts. It looks like the charging system is working properly. Now what do I try?
Thanks .