Alternator issue - looking for opinions

Think I've got an alternator problem here....

Here's the specs:
Bike off - voltage at the battery is 12.5v
Now - the specs say I should be seeing 14.2-14..8 volts at around 2000 rpm.
I'm seeing ~13.5v @ 2000, and ~14v @ 3000.
And get this - ~12v at 1100 (idle). Someone explain to me how it's possible to be reading lower than with the bike OFF?
Okay - so looks like we have a problem.
Proceed to the resistance checks on the rotor and stator -- spec says rotor should give between 3.6 - 4.4 ohms -- I'm getting 5. Stator coils should be .41 - .51 ohms -- I'm reading .5 on all 3.

Okay - so the stator windings are out of spec'd range -- what's the concensus? Think that being a little over half and ohm out of spec could be causing the voltage shortage I'm seeing?

And on a side note -- anyone know how to get the stator coils out of the housing? Damn thing is stuck in there like it's been welded or something.....

 

Here is a link to a post I seen earlier hopefully it will help!

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2730.html

 

Sounds like your stator tested good (so far). .5 ohm is in spec, and typically they fail by being open (infinite resistance) or shorting to ground. You need to check each of the three leads to ground and make sure there is no continuity.

Your rotor is measuring just out of specs. Are you sure the meter was zeroed? Might be worth a look at the brushes.

Now your voltage. You can think of the battery as a little water tower. The voltage is how high the water is in the tower. When you put a load on it (lights, ignition etc.) it uses water from the tower, pulling the level down and reducing the voltage. The alternator is the pump that fills it back up.

The alternator ought to be able to fill the water tower to 14V at 2K rpm, with the STOCK draw. Any extra accessories will pull more out and the alternator may not be able to keep up at 2Krpm, but can at 3K.

I've never had to put a meter on mine, but I'll bet with the extra lights I have it won't hit 14V at 2K rpm. I know for sure if I don't leave it hooked up to a charger the battery will draw down during a sync and colortune session. In other words, the battery voltage is higher off than it is at idle.

Oh, for reference, my Venture has a volt meter on it. It shows 14V at idle. If I have my foot on the brake and a turn signal on it bounces with the signal lamps from 12V to 14V. In other words, that alternator cannot push 14V with the extra load of the brake light and signal lights at idle.

 

Meter is reading .3 high when measuring Ohms, but that's been taken into account already. Voltage has been tested to be right on.

Alternator brushes are great - still have 10mm over the wear bars.

Extra non-switched load I've added is:
H4 headlight - so an extra 5w (on low)
Front running lights in the signals with 1157's - so 16w
Dual bulb taillight instead of the stock single - so another 8w.

And that's it. What bugs me is that these are not new mods, but the electrical issues have started recently. Last year I had several instances where when waiting at an intersection with turn signals on, the headlight flickered noticeably, and a couple of times the signals even stopped flashing until I brought up the RPM's.

 

I would suspect burned or corroded connections and a weak battery.

 

Again though, unless the stator is shorted to ground it is in spec.

If your battery is getting long in the tooth it might not have the capacity to get you through those idling periods anymore.

I think ArizonaSteve has the right idea.