after I got rained on the other night....

Brew

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after getting stuck in the rain the other night my bikes battery wouldn't turn the starter over and the headlight was dim. It would kick over first try though and I was able to run around town for a while. is it possible that i ruined my regulator/rectifier since it's exposed? Or did my charging system finally croak? Just seems strange that I was able to do 20-30 miles with a dead battery and non working charging system? Not sure where to start checking?
 
I would start by checking battery voltage at the battery, make sure it's fully charged if it is, start checking all your connections and fuses, bad grounds can cause a lot of problems. If the battery isn't fully charged, charge it and then check all your connections. Take your battery in and have it load tested also. If your headlight was dim when the bike was still running and spent brighten when the bike is revved I'd say your not charging
 
headlight was bright the first ride after it got wet but before it finally died it was dim and not getting brighter while running.
 
Then I would check the battery, I bet it's dead. Charge it and see if you can get the bike to fire up and put a meter on the batter while revving the bike and check voltage again. Stock charging system?
 
This is a good field test for an XS charging system.

With your engine idling slow, point the high beam at a wall or back of a car. Blip the throttle and observe if the light jumps a bit brighter. No brighter, check the charging system. Gets brighter, ride on happy! Note, this works because the charging starts working and increases voltage over idle speed. Revving desperately will not help.

Tom

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another thing I noticed was it stumbling in the higher rpm's when I rev'd it quick. Not so much with a gradual roll on...
 
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