Flickering Lights HELP!!!!

[gary]

New battery. Not the problem. Gonna disconnect the yellow alternator wires. If it still flickers the problem has to be a ground that I can't find or maybe the main fuse/solenoid box. Those contacts look like, well, they are hard to clean. There is evidence of the main fuse getting very hot. Maybe I should just ride it to see if the problem goes away as suggested. Thanks for all the feedback.

[49Reo]

My life gets flcker, or pulsate, only when the spots are on. Not much, but enough to be noticed. Seems okay once it's run for a while.

[greenbarn]

I can't remember the locations of all the grounds - but agree with what has been said - battery and grounds.   Two easy things to eliminate.  I, like Chief, tend to stay on the safe side on batteries (and tires).  I'd rather replace it earlier than needed than to get stranded.

You can test the battery problem by hooking up a jumper box to it, so if the problem goes away then it incriminates the battery.

Some amount of flickering, I believe, is normal at idle. 

[gary]

The battery is only about 2 years old but the bike sits for long periods. I like the battery idea. That's where I'm leaning with this too. I cleaned the battery ground and the only frame ground I've found is under the tank near the neck. Is there another frame ground from the wiring harness?

[DC]

GROUND!!!  make sure your wiring harness grounds are good. Our bikes are of the age where this becomes more of a problem. A weak/flaky ground can be hard to find and can create lots of problems.

This is what caused a problem when I first got my bike.  Thought it was a bad battery and it turned out to be a loose ground wire on the block.  The threads were stripped out so I made a helicoil for the hole, reinstalled the ground bolt and it's been fine ever since.

[chief]

Two things...

first) how old is the battery?  A flaky battery can make a lot of weird things happen. Just because it measures okay at idle doesn't mean it's good. I am really picky with my batteries and tires. (Yeah, were it me, I'd replace it.)
second) GROUND!!!  make sure your wiring harness grounds are good. Our bikes are of the age where this becomes more of a problem. A weak/flaky ground can be hard to find and can create lots of problems.

[pcarrell]

Give it a minute.......one of the Vulcan guru's will be around shortly.

[gary]

Everything ohms perfect, the stator, regulator, junction box. Cleaned all connectors, DFI relay fuse, main fuse, junction box, battery ground, frame ground. No FI codes. Stator output is within range and battery voltage is fine 12.6. Battery voltage is 13.0 when running. I think it probably should be higher? At idle all lights even the neutral light flicker dim to full with the rhythm of the motor and intermittently flicker at higher RPM. When the fan or light bar is on the power is steady at slightly lower than full. Replaced the voltage regulator and same problem. Still everything ohms fine. Could the ignition switch be a problem? Bike runs fine and performs well but the sky just isn't quite as blue when the bike is down. Afraid to ride it as I don't want to damage the DFI system if it is also fluctuating there. Shop wants $200 just to start looking at it.