[wiredgeorge]

Power comes off your stator (or generator or whatever the correct name for your bike's power making gizmo) and is AC. AC is converted to DC at the regulator rectifier. Power then is split... goes to battery and main fuse. Bike runs off battery if no power is being generated. Bike runs off generated power if battery is discharged. If voltage at the battery is rising while the bike is idling it looks like you may have a reg/rec issue.

There are essentially two types of regulator/rectifiers. The old type used a feedback wire; almost always a brown wire on a Kaw. Look at your reg/rec and see if there is a brown wire on the connector. If there is, start tracing this BROWN wire back to the harness. It VERY LIKELY has a bad connection. Clean and put some dielectic grease on any connection associated with the brown wire. What it does is provide voltage from the ignition switch through the harness to the reg/rec. If the voltage on the brown wire is low, the reg/rec cranks out more. If the voltage is high, the reg/rec cranks out less. So if you have a BROWN wire, either the wire connection is not secure somewhere in the circuit or the reg/rec is BAD.

OK, the other type of reg/rec used on newer bikes will NOT have a brown wire on the harness. This type has a feedback circuit that senses the voltage through the other wires on the main connector; probably the main white wire but I can't say for sure. If this type reg/rec is on your bike... well the reg/rec needs replaced as it isn't doing its job properly.

There is a real good chance your regulator/rectifier is bad. If you get 12.5 to 14.5 VDC out of it at anytime, the stator/generator/alternator (whatever-ator) on your bike is very likely fine and dandy.