Voltmeter is a tool you must have for $2

[jdvorchak]

There is no excuse for you to NOT have a Digital Volt Meter (DVM). Harbor Freight often has a free DVM for any purchase. Get a $1.99 pair of work gloves and use the coupon to get the DVM. Before I see responses about how in-accurate they are let me say I have 5 or 6 of them and they are all more than accurate enough to test a 12v battery.

How often we see a post that goes like this:
"Bike ran yesterday but dead now" or "Riding the bike it seemed to loose power then wouldn't start"

First rule of trouble shooting is to start eliminating things. Is there fuel, is there spark and is there electrical power. The first thing to test is the voltage on the battery terminals. There are literally thousands of videos and how to about using a voltmeter so there is no excuse for not knowing how it's used.

[Track T 2411]

I won't argue your points, but add that you can buy a much better quality meter at any auto parts store for less than $20, and keep the harbor freight one in your bike's tool kit for quick on the road trouble shooting...

[desertrefugee]

Harbor Freight does this with these meters from time to time. I've also ended up with a few of them. Certainly not top shelf material (the leads especially), but any meter is better than no meter. As TT noted, I keep one in my Valk saddlebag. One in each car. One in the camper van, etc. etc.

[jdvorchak]

I knew folks would flame the meter but the point of the post was that there is no reason NOT to have one.

FYI My Fluke and my Klien read less than .05 volt different than any of my cheap HF meters. Usually on the order of .03 volt. For the math challenged that is Fluke reads 12.63 volts and the HF will read 12.68 or 12.58 volts. More than enough accuracy for trouble shooting motorcycle electrical systems.

[Track T 2411]

I'm not flaming it, and you make a great point. But... I have to drive 45 miles to a harbor freight, and only 8 miles to an auto parts store... and I do have two meters with bad leads, lol.

[Briang]

Indeed, always have a cheap volt meter and one of those cheap 12V tire pumps which will at least get you off the main road and quite possibly to where you can get your tire fixed.

[RB]

Also ear plugs for 1.99, carpenters flat pencil for .59 or super glue 3 tubes for .99 and using a 20% coupon..makes it even cheaper..I have 10 flash lights, 8 multi meters, lots of tarps, scissors, moving blankets, headlight flashlights..every time I drive by ..I carry a coupon..

[jdvorchak]

.. and I do have two meters with bad leads, lol.

And that's why we can't have nice things. You tear them up!

[Gowing]

.. and I do have two meters with bad leads, lol.

And that's why we can't have nice things. You tear them up!

[Shadowjack]

Having been trained in precision measurement oh-so-many years ago, meters are hard to compare for accuracy if you don't have a solid reference source. Cheap tools can be just as good as expensive ones, but you can't really tell without direct comparison, so you have to trust what you see unless there's some reason to suspect it. The very most important thing you can do is to clean the contact point you're measuring of all scale and rust, because that will throw the reading off entirely. On that note, all you people who just hear your starter relay click when you hit the button, clean your damn battery terminals before you suspect the battery, or the relay, or the starter button.

[scootsx2]

Having been trained in precision measurement oh-so-many years ago, meters are hard to compare for accuracy if you don't have a solid reference source. Cheap tools can be just as good as expensive ones, but you can't really tell without direct comparison, so you have to trust what you see unless there's some reason to suspect it. The very most important thing you can do is to clean the contact point you're measuring of all scale and rust, because that will throw the reading off entirely. On that note, all you people who just hear your starter relay click when you hit the button, clean your damn battery terminals before you suspect the battery, or the relay, or the starter button.

[77Gowing]

Absolutely JD a joltmeter is a very handy tool and is a must.

[heraldhamster]

...FYI My Fluke and my Klien read less than .05 volt different than any of my cheap HF meters. Usually on the order of .03 volt. For the math challenged that is Fluke reads 12.63 volts and the HF will read 12.68 or 12.58 volts. More than enough accuracy for trouble shooting motorcycle electrical systems.

Thanks for adding that. When the Fluke guys were in my town a few years back, they had a tent at Platt electric. I had to go down and buy specifically a Fluke meter for my class at the Tech College. So I took in my $19.99 meter. It wasn't a Harbor Freight brand but it was close enough. It tested well within spec next to the Fluke meter I hadda buy. So yeah, I wholeheartedly agree that any meter is better than none at all.