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We have an intermittent issue with this bike in that from time to time you go to start it and the new battery is nearly dead. You could have just started and rode it ... 30 seconds later the lights are all dim and there is almost no electrical power and barely enough to make the starter solonoid buzz. Sometimes it starts and runs perfectly. Could this be a rectifier issue? Or is there a problem area on these bikes.

Thanks!

It sounds more like a bad connection someplace in the battery wiring. I would check and clean every connection from the battery to the starter and to ground., both positive and negative. That's where to start checking, anyways, you can move on from there if nothing shows as bad.

Need to check the charging system. If it is charging 13.4 - 14.2 dcv, then you can try and clean the starter motor armature. A simple pencil erasure on the armature will remove the built up debri from the brushes. If it is the charging system, 90% of the time it is the regulator/rectifier. Plan on spending a couple of hundred $'s for the part. Good luck.

the 83 nighthakw has a problem charging the battery below 2200 rpm's. this problem was resolved in the 84. most people use a small 1 amp trickle charger to keep it charged when not riding. this works for me.