My lights flicker

[gary]

Thanks for the suggestions and helpful check points. I cleaned the ground connections and checked the other associated connections. After the alternator system ohm-ed well. I moved on to the regulator which had poor ohm readings. It's good to know the problem but life aint quite the same with a broke bike. Recently I needed to jump my bike with a car battery. Problem is I left the car running and that has to be where this problem came from.

[Pilgrim]

Check and clean/tighten all ground wires/connections.

[shunter v8]

I had the flickering lights on my driving lights and rear light it was an intermittent and very annoying fault which every time I tried to trace the fault they were working. Eventually I traced it to the fusebox the terminals of the fuse holder were loose.

[Gooseberrie]

My guess is power is leaking somewhere and stops when Amperage is unavailable. See if there is any inconsistency in the light with engine off. Does the light seem to be unsteady when hitting handlebar, headlight and saddle? Each to what they deserve and not repeatedly.

You can check charging issues on the battery terminals. It should read 14,2 Volts on any revs. I would say less then 13,6 (being an older bike now and having only a single stator) or more then 15 Volt is worrying.

Next you would have to get the dynamo checked. In the shop they will have a way better multimeter for amperage but you can always check for resistance with a good battery in the multimeter. The deal is the three yellow cables from the dynamo, going to the regulator. The resistance between any of those and the frame/engine should be the same, or one set of windings has a shorts and can not produce. The regulator can fail for this reason after time. Sometimes the plug is forgotten to maintain and corrosion or dirt disables contact on one of the wires. Replacement dynamo's often have shorter cables and then there can be an additional connection in the wire between regulator and carter.

About these tests: a) resistance between each combination of yellow wires should be between 0,5 and 2 Ohm. b) there can be no resistance in the test between yellow wires and ground on frame or engine or negative wire.

Then amperage test of the stator/dynamo: With the multimeter on ~ AC and minimum 100 VA. Ask someone to rev the engine, in a responsible way and overseeing the danger, up to halfway and maintaining the same amount. In the loose plug, again measure all yellow cables with the meter on the setting mentioned above to show these readings are the same and not one reading is below 50 Volt AC.

When wrong then do not ride the bike much, or charging performance will be bad, power delivery is too inconsistent for electronics and regulator is stressed and can fail beyond repair. This is general information and not for Kawasaki or Drifter bikes.

[gary]

This one is puzzling. The light power fluctuates on my drifter. This seems like a weak connection but when the cooling fan comes on the power is steady. After viewing the wiring diagram it seem one would not effect the other. Regulator?