I do live in Maine so the cold is an issue. For 20 years...ever winter I take the battery out of every motorcycle I've ever had and and charge it every month during the winter. With the current battery, I just bought it this April so that wasn't an issue. I understand what you are saying though...and thanks for all the info.

 

I finally brought my battery to an auto parts store and had it tested. It checked out to be fine. I can't remember the exact number of cranking amps (or whatever it is) but the guy at the store said the battery is fine.

I've driven my bike to and from work (5 miles round trip) and it seems to be acting fine.

Since it's not the battery should be looking into the starter now?

 

Maybe the auto parts store can test the starter too. If it cranks slow even with a fully charged batt. I would point to that next.

 

Now I'm back to square one. Since the battery was holding a charge, I put it back in the bike and rode it for about a month with no issues. Started up great every time. At the end of last week when I was riding into work it just didn't run good. Not sure how else to describe it. Felt like it was running out of gas or slight loss of power. When I got home and shut it off it wouldn't start. Same as last time. The last few days it wasn't running right, I knew one day soon it wouldn't start.

I took the battery out and checked voltage and it was 12 something. Not what I was expecting, I put it back in and turned the turn on (but didn't hit the starter button) and it was only reading 8 something? Everything I have read tends me to think it is the rectifier/regulator? My bike has 21K on it...so it wouldn't be a bad idea to get one anyway. Does it seem like this would fix my issue? Thanks...

 

At this point it wouldn't hurt to check the connections on the R/R. They often get loose and overheat, sometimes burning the connector. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to close up the connectors a bit so it fits tightly. Sometimes the fuel pump can give you symptoms similar to the R/R with hard starting and loss of power or not running right. A quick peek at the contacts wouldn't hurt and it only takes a couple minutes.