Motorcycle Repair: checking for draining problem on battery, honda v45, bad hope

Question
My 1983 Honda v45 750cc Sabre keeps drianing battery.The battery is new,started bike,left a couple days went to start but battery was dead.A friend told me it maybe the regulator draws current,killing the battery.If so how do i check and what wires?

Answer
Hi Ken, My best guess would have to be that your system is not charging at all.. The best way to check this is to full charge the battery so that the bike will run, then use a multimeter, using the VDC stetting, to see what your charging system puts out at the pos and neg terminals of the battery. If its anything at all below 12 volts, chances are good either your voltage regulator is bad OR your stator is bad.

Hope this helps!

~Mark