My old '85 bagger has had alternator problems since this spring. So, I have doing short rides around where I live, no headlight and have just plugged the battery into a charger when I get home. I bought the new alternator and have just been putting off changing it out. 
Last weekend the Missus and I climbed on and went for a hundred and ten mile ride, stopped and had a bite to eat and a brew. On the way home, a 'county-mounty' pulled in behind us, so I flipped the lights on to keep him happy. My charging indicator said the alt was working! WTH? So we continued on our way, enjoyed the scenery, stopped at the local grocery store for a couple of things and headed home. The bike ran great, the sun was shining and the alt charged all the way home. The sheriff continued on his way when we turned onto our road home and when I clamped the charger onto the terminals... it shut off within a minute! Battery was fully charged.
So yesterday I rode over to a buddy's place to do the swap-out of the alt and as we were starting, I pulled the regulator plug. Whadda ya know... the plug that attaches to the alt was full of rubber and crud. Turns out, the rubber tit that holds the connector in place had broken loose and now the terminals to the alt have been scorched/pitted. So I cleaned them up and crimped them down a bit, then plugged the regulator in and viola! Charges perfect... but I'm still gonna have to replace the alt because of the through-case plug being broken. <sigh>
Don't really know if there is a 'moral to the story' but I do know that ignoring the problem does not make it go away...
Live, Love, Ride, Repeat!
Edge 'Plugin' Walker

At least you found the problem so you know it will be right.

And your right, ignoring problems doesn't make them go away. Even if the symptoms go away the problem will most likely come back at the worst time.

I would have never thought of doing maintenance on my alternator. Once a month I check tire pressure on everything, oil, trans fluid, battery terminals, brake wear, and anything else I can think of. It is pretty easy takes about 20 to 30 mins, do all the tires, all the oil etc.

Would have never thought of the alt. Probably miss some stuff I should be checking.

Days like the other one where I stepped on the rear brake and had none. I did not see any liquid under the bike, not sure what happened. But put it on the lift, waiting on a tool right now, and checked the system best I could. It will be next week before I can work on it again unless I just replace all the rear brake parts.

But I have done it, heard a noise, or knew something need some work and just kept puttin it off. Problem only got worse and, in my opinion, if I had stopped right then and fixed it would have cost me way less than putting it off for weeks.

But you are not alone...... lolool

Thank you to everyone that replied. I took the bike out yesterday for a run to town, she ran perfect! No problems, charged all the way there and back. I have been just doing short rides, so it was a true joy to ride the 30 miles to town and not worry about the bike. I ended up riding just over 100 miles there and back and I couldn't get the 'perma-grin' off my face. There were a few other bikes out riding because it was very cloudy and rainy. My Lady asked me "What if it rains?" I just grinned and said "I'll get wet!" Only hit a sprinkle or two, so all was good!
Rex, you're right. I now have the parts, so when there's snow on the ground it will be time to 'break 'er open' and be ready for Spring!
Edge "RidingAgain" Walker

Spray some dielectric grease to prevent more corrosion. Use a very light film. Good to use it on your new stator when you install it. They do make the rubber plug separate as to where you can pull out the current rubber plug, remove the wires and insert them into a new rubber plug. Way cheaper then a new stator.