Motorcycle Repair: 1987 Honda Shadow starting problem, honda shadow 750, meter check

Question
I recently bought a 1987 Honda Shadow 750 in California and brought it back to Utah and it is struggling to start cold and is also not holding a charge well, I discovered that the guy had put a new batery in but had not put any water in so I did but it still doesn't hold a charge well, what should I do about both of these problems?

Answer
The cold start problem sounds like a choke adjustment or possibly a dirty carburetor problem.  The problem sounds like it's not getting the fuel enrichment it needs to start well.

The charging problem could be a couple of things.  First you need to make sure the stator and field coils are okay.  You have to check those with an ohm meter.  Check continuity and resistance between each winding and make sure each have the same resistance and don't have continuity to ground.  If they check out okay it's probably the voltage regulator.

Also check the connector between the stator and the voltage regulator. Those often get hot and have high resistance.