MY '99 vstar 1100--35,000 miles has been getting harder to start for the last 2 months.  Unless I charge the battery every couple days, it barely cranks.  Diconnected the neg. cable at the battery and found a 10 volt drain (I don't know the milli-volt reading).  I left the volt meter connected to the battery and disconnected EVERY connector one at a time.  The 10 volt drain stopped when I disconnected the starter relay!  I opened all the wiring bundles that the relay connector fed, but didn't find any damaged wires.  I plugged the starter relay back in--10 volt drain again!  Finally I realized that the voltage reulator/rectifier was still connected!  I unplugged it and the 10 volt drain disappeared.  ANYONE EVER HAVE A SIMILAR PROBLEM-COULD IT BE THE REGULATOR-CAN ANYONE PROVIDE STEPS IN TESTING THE CONTACT PINS ON THE REGULATOR?

MY '99 vstar 1100--35,000 miles has been getting harder to start for the last 2 months.  Unless I charge the battery every couple days, it barely cranks.  Diconnected the neg. cable at the battery and found a 10 volt drain (I don't know the milli-volt reading).  I left the volt meter connected to the battery and disconnected EVERY connector one at a time.  The 10 volt drain stopped when I disconnected the starter relay!  I opened all the wiring bundles that the relay connector fed, but didn't find any damaged wires.  I plugged the starter relay back in--10 volt drain again!  Finally I realized that the voltage reulator/rectifier was still connected!  I unplugged it and the 10 volt drain disappeared.  ANYONE EVER HAVE A SIMILAR PROBLEM-COULD IT BE THE REGULATOR-CAN ANYONE PROVIDE STEPS IN TESTING THE CONTACT PINS ON THE REGULATOR?

The problems described sound like a charging problem. Check voltage with the bike running (hold the RPMs up a ways to insure max voltage from the charging system) and you should get around 14.2-14.5 volts at the battery (this is pretty much universal of all lead acid battery systems) if it's working properly. If it's not, you will need either a shop manual or schematics to be able to fix it yourself. Also you should NOT be getting a drain from the charging system, that right there says there is a problem, very likely the rectifier.

The problems described sound like a charging problem.  Check voltage with the bike running (hold the RPMs up a ways to insure max voltage from the charging system) and you should get around 14.2-14.5 volts at the battery (this is pretty much universal of all lead acid battery systems) if it's working properly.  If it's not, you will need either a shop manual or schematics to be able to fix it yourself.  Also you should NOT be getting a drain from the charging system, that right there says there is a problem, very likely the rectifier.

Thanks for the advice--I re-connected the reg./rectfier a couple times just to make sure--It caused a battery drain each time it was re-connected.  (the auto store cycle repair manuals don't provide the details, but you get what you pay for).  I know I need a shop manual, but because the rectifier is sealed and not repairable, I'm going to buy a new rect./regulator since the manual cost almost as much as the regulator.(maybe my wife will check up on me and read this--then I'm guaranteed a shop manual for father's day!)

thanks C.W.,doorgunner