IE when gggGary says, “locate the green wire at the regulator plug and make a jump from it to ground…” can I be sure that I would use the green wire on my aftermarket reg?
No. On the '70-'79 bikes, there's a type B regulator. The type B sends power to the rotor on the green wire. shorting that to ground risks frying the regulator.
I see what you're getting at, you want to bypass the regulator and see if the charge voltage comes up, right?
To do that on the B reg's, you need to make a jumper wire that powers the rotor directly from the battery (Bypasses the regulator).
Connect one end to the green terminal at the brush.
Start the bike and rev it to about 2500-3000 revs.
While holding it there touch the other end of your jumper to the battery positive terminal.
That bypasses the regulator and shoots full power into the rotor. If everything besides the reg is good, you'll see a jump in voltage... a big jump.... like 15 to 18 volts.
Don't hold it there long... just long enough to read the voltage. Leaving it there too long and you might start frying stuff.
If voltage jumps way up, it indicates the regulator is bad (not sending enough juice to the rotor).
If there's no change, the problem is likely somewhere besides the reg.
All that make sense?