Motorcycle Repair: 1985 honda goldwing charging system, honda goldwing, voltage gauge

Question
Hi, I have a problem with the charging system.  Last year my regulator fried. It melted the wires at the connection. I got a new one and since then another on burnt.  I figured maybe the extra lights the guy I bought it from was putting to much load on it so I disconnected them. the new regulator I put in is getting Hot and will problem melt too. I put a voltage gauge on the bike and it seems to be putting out 15.5 or so volts is this to much. any help would be appreciated. thanks

Answer
Yes, 15.5 volts is too high.  The burning of the connector has more to do with the resistance at the connector than the current going through it.  The spade connectors get loose, the resistance goes up and things get very hot.  My neighbor had his bike catch on fire because of that connector.  The high voltage is probably a bad voltage regulator but those rectifier/regulators get very hot.  That's why they put cooling fins on them to help dissipate the heat.  They get too hot to touch under normal conditions.

Regards
Rich