Motorcycle Repair: Regulator/Rectifier, regulator rectifier, motorcycle technician

Question
I have the 1986 Kawasaki 454LTD which you answered my question about the bad rectifier. Before I received your answer I talked with a motorcycle technician that had troubleshot many regulator/rectifiers problems. He had stated that he did not trust the static test we had performed on our bike. He said that it was not a 100% test. But he did go on to say that if the altenator tested good and was providing the regulator/rectifier with the 60 volts it needed, then to test the output of the regulator to make sure it was outputing 12+ volts. Shouldn't the regulator/rectifier be outputing 14 to 15 volts to run the bike and keep the battery charged?

Answer
Right, the output voltage should be between 13 volts DC and 17 volts DC, generally, and more likely around 14 to 15 VDC as you mentioned.

Basically, a chraging system must have an output higher than battery voltage to charge the battery.

Please use my email for follow-up correspondence: mshively1@woh.rr.com

Respectfully,
Mark Shively