Motorcycle Repair: 1981 harley xls generator, proper voltage, dead battery

Question
QUESTION: HI MIKE: HOW MANY VOLTS SHOULD MY GENERATOR BE PUTTING OUT on my 1981 xls I'M GETTINNING 12.5 ON A MILTON VOLTMETER AND IT DROPS A LITTLE(NOT BELOW 12) WHEN THE LIGHTS ON. I CHANGED THE GENERATOR AND REGULATOR WITH NEW ONES (I POLARIZED IT CORRECTLY) THAT'S NOT TO SAY THEY'RE NOT BAD BUT WHAT ARE THE ODDS? THE REASON I CHANGED THEM WAS ON A 35 MILE RIDE WITH THE LIGHT ON IT WOULD'NT START AFTER SHUT DOWN( DEAD BATTERY) IF I SHOULD BE GETTING MORE VOLTS WHERE DO I START TO LOOK I'VE CHECKED EVERY WIRE SEEMS FINE(BATTERY IS ALSO NEW)

ANSWER: At the battery you should be getting around 13.5 volts. You never said if you checked the battery. It might be bad.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: what do you mean check the battery (It Is New) do you mean put a load on it? what should it read ?(It does start the bike) and also would a bad battery not give me the reading i'm looking for (13.5) Thanks for your help sorry for the rambling this is driving me nuts..

Answer
Even though you have a new battery, it can still be bad. I have seen batteries right out of the box that were no good. Check to make sure its full  and you dont have a dry cell. You can have the battery tested also, to make sure its good. If its not good then you dont get the proper voltage at the battery. If you are still haveing the same problem after checking the battery let me know
Mike