[Baldrider]

Took bike out for a ride today. It was hot. Temp gage on RC was reading 90 degrees. I noticed when I turned on electrical power the voltage was reading were it should be. Now the question is when I hit the start button bike starts with no problems but, it takes about 2- 3 seconds or so for bike to reach 14+. I never seen the voltage bar move that slow. Usually its real quick. This was after 100 mile ride when I stopped to gas up. I'm guessing it was because the bike was hot and temp was 90 degrees. Is this a good assumption? 17 Chieftain.

 

[CraigB1960]

I'm surprised you have seen it faster.

Here is a typical startup graph of the voltage versus engine speed. It took 2 seconds for the voltage to go from 12Vdc to 14.5Vdc (longer if you were looking before the start sequence).

It takes time for the alternator, regulator, and battery to recover and build voltage from a start up. You can see the voltage sag...caused by the locked rotor of the starter before it begins to spin (acts as a very short duration dead short to the battery). Then the battery recovers to its nominal voltage before the charging system starts to build up capacity to supply the system with current to support the attached load.

 

[Baldrider]

Looks good and glad I don't have a problem surfacing. First bike with digital gauges. Not a fan of digital. Thank you for the explanation and graph. It explains a lot. Thanks again.

 

[GreatWhite]

And once the system is stable (battery charged) then the voltage in the display bounces between 14.2 and 14.6?