Ironhead charging system mystery?

[kj_walther]

heres the bike
1975 harley davidson Ironhead (bobber)
brand new battery, brand new delco mechanical voltage regulator, generator has new brushes and springs installed and tested pushing 10 amps, brand new key switch, all new wiring, dyna s dual fire ignition with stock ironhead 5 ohm coil......

now the mystery is... why in the heck will my battery not charge? lol everything is brand new beisdes putting a brand new generator in it, but the generator tests good according to the clymer manual. bike will start and run but when i test the battery after a long ride it has 8 volts and if i turn on my headlights it will kill the bike.

Yes i have polarized the generator by touching battery + to arm..........

i have no horn, no blinkers, just a tail lamp and a headlamp...... i know the bike is wired correctly as well.......

if anyone knows of some mystery that i dont know about, please let me know.... if i test from positive to negative with the bike running i should have 13 volts correct? mine only has 12 and like i said will drop over a long ride.

[FasTnNefariouS]

With everything checking out A-OK, it sounds like damaged wire you just can't see. Strip it down and check everything again. It's the hidden things that usually cause these problems. I had a charging system problem not too long ago and also swore everything was working and wired up correctly. I found that 1 wire caused the problem. That's all it takes. The charging system is very simple, but without actually seeing the bike, it makes it difficult for us to know exactly what's going on since you claim everything is brand new and installed properly. Check for loose crimps on the wire ends. Check for loose or missing hardware and all is properly secured. Grounds are connected to raw metal. Good luck and when you do find the problem, please update us.
Cheers,
DJ