Volt meters--which wire?

83 GL1100

Trying to put a volt meter on the fairing. I back tracked PO hacking of the wires in the fairing.

I found one of the clam fuse holder with the black wire. The PO used this black wire for something but I can not back track it.
So I added the black wire, from another harness, to the same clam shell as in the fairing.

I am only getting 9.6 to 10.7. When I rev the engine I will get 11.5. Engine running.

Checking the battery while engine is running I get 14.2

Where else can I connect the wire, from the volt meter to, in the fairing??

Radio power wire maybe? Not the preset wire. Check voltage at the running light. If it compares to the battery you can use it.

I too want to add a voltmeter. You got me thinking...why would the chosen wire be showing less than battery power? Does this indicate resistance in the harness or a parallel load in that leg of the harness?
Have you done a cleaning of some/all connections in the past?
Maybe the answer is a fresh wire dedicated to the meter direct to the battery...would there be enough draw to require a switch?

I would check voltages around the bike and especially at the fuse panel. Voltage that low could be a failing overheated connection or a resistance at the ignition switch.
A relay could fix this.

yep honda wiring can have a lot of resistance nowdays ...wire and connectors and components are just old ...id want my volt meter hooked right to the sense wire ...my bike is modified by having the sense wire and battery right next to the battery ....and sense wire hook up to switch side solenoid.....honda seemed to like to have far apart from each other with connectors in between...causing lots of resistance and voltage drops

but for sure a rehab job done on all the wiring in the harness with new connectors and related connection new also ...it just doesnt get any better ...i have a new harness blacklander and v made up ...cant wait to put it on hooch..... :BigGrin:

Some years back, I put a nice Honda marine gauge and a power port on my '84 Aspencade. I had a couple of other items down in that area that needed a good 12V supply, so I ran a fused, dedicated 10 gauge line and activated it via relay from a switched 12V tap on the fuse box. There are a number of places to get a reasonable approximation of battery voltage, but none as accurate as a fat line with a good ground off a solid pick-off point.