OK, I lied! I need more help. Good news is the bike passed its MOT so I'm now legal and aiming to get to Em's ride out. However, the battery is not charging properly. It's a brand new Odyssey battery but after a full charge and then a 30 mile ride, the next morning I get the dreaded 'click click click'.
I've looked at Pash's very useful 2009 'how to' on changing the voltage regulator but my issue is slightly different. After a full charge, Bike off, voltage across battery is 12.74V. Bike on, voltage across battery is 14.15V, all good one would think BUT revving the bike sees no change, the voltage stays at 14.15V. My understanding is this should climb to 14.4V? Should I still be thinking replacement regulator?

14v should be enough to keep it charged, I would suspect an earth fault, the connection of the braided strap between the swinging arm and frame have been known to be problematic, worth a check

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so the voltage stays constant when the engine is reved ?
sounds like a voltage regulator fault , as there should be a variation as the bike is reved
try cleaning the voltage regulator connections , including it's earth

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Feros Ferio

gusm2
Nutah
S3Tim how accurate is your volt meter , you are talking about a 0.25 volt

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

Hi Barney, it's only a cheap multimeter but I would have thought that even if it was accurate to only +-0.25V it would still increase as the revs went up? I'm going to try cleaning up the regulator contacts as I've already done the main earthing points due to other electrical problems.Finger crossed!

So, voltage across battery at idle = 14.2V. Voltage after 20 mile ride, bike stopped, 13.5V reducing to 12.8V fairly quickly. Voltage across battery next morning = 12.6V. Still get the click-click.

All leads/groundings cleaned and sanded. I don't think the charging system is at fault. D'you think solenoid or starter maybe?

Solenoid possibly, you can open it fairly easy to check

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Don’t clean and sand the leads... chuck em ! They are breaking down when overloaded by the sounds of it, then as a result lose the ability to ground enough to complete a charging circuit.
I had the same problems with mine.I bought new starter motor, Solenoid, rectifier Reg, Pulled most my hair out in the process... then spent 15 poxy quid In Halfords on 3 new leads an it cured everything..!
The missus had to hide my baseball bat For about a week after that.......

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What's a Buell ?... Is it like Cake ?

Yeah, be careful cleaning leads like that. Often they are 'brassed' and cleaning them with abrasive removes this. This makes them more prone to oxidising again.

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

Mmmm, thanks Hassle/Adam. I still have an issue and have resorted to putting metal tags on the battery terminals so I can easily jump start the bike from my car. I just want to ride it while the weather is so nice, it's not ideal but it gets me out! I can look deeper over the winter.

Hassle, I was thinking that as I can jump start the bike easily from the car that it probably isn't the earth leads? Or does the earthing get done through the car when you jump start?

jump starting from a car , make sure the car isn't running !
the earthing isn't via the car , but extra amps help get through dirty or high resistance connections.
have you checked the resistance of the generator windings ?

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Feros Ferio

Sorry Nutah, not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean the alternator/stator resistance?

If so, can that stop a healthy, charged battery from cranking the bike?

sorry didn't read that right .. so you have a good battery BUT overnight losing voltage , sounds like you have a parasitic drain .

overnight disconnect the earth to the battery , then see what the voltage is in the morning.

OR WITH THE BIKE OFF ....remove the live terminal connect the meter set to Amps between the battery positive & the positive lead , see what the current draw is
as if the battery volts are going down , you have either a duff battery (can happen to new ones too ) , or a short to earth or live circuit draining it (like an alarm would)

if unsure you tube is handy for how to videos on charging issues

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Feros Ferio

Yep agree with all that a Nutah says their

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What's a Buell ?... Is it like Cake ?

By the inclusion of a single letter “a” in you last post makes a whole lot of difference to the message didn’t know you had meet Don already

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08