New guy, need help. Stator problems???

First off, hello and thanks for making this place available for those of us who ride.

Now, took my ike out for the first time after winter storage and I can't keep my battery charged. It charges fine on the battery charger, but when riding it drains down to where it won't turn the starter. So here's my question along with what most recently happened (three hours ago). --

Riding along and the engine pops and kinda chokes but runs fine after coughing once. Then, a minute or so later it began popping and choking constantly while running about 40 mph. Eventually it died and I coasted to a stop, and it wouldn't even make a clicking sound when I tried to start it. I pulled the plug on the stator and there was a small amount of oil(?) or perhaps some kind of lube where the plug connects. A guy came along and gave me a jump and I was able to get home, but like before it will not turn over, although it will if connected to a charger.

How difficult is it to replace the stator, or, should I look elsewhere for the charging/coughing/popping sound problem?

Thanks in advance.
Scott
EDITED TO ADD: It's an 88 C.I. RevTech motor.

Roadking, thanks for the answer and advice. I was hoping it wouldn't be a stator problem, but I guess it sort of sounds like it is.

What bums me is when I put it away last winter it ran and charged fine. It wasn't until I put the battery back into it and fired it up a few days ago that this happened. Actually, when I did try to start it, it ran on one cylinder. I pulled the front plug and it was soaked, and the rear plug was fine. I dried it off and swapped the front and rear plug and it fired right up and ran perfectly. Then, when I rode it around for a few hours the battery went dead, but there was no popping, sputtering sounds. But today, after charging the battery I rode for two or three hours and on my way home it began to pop and choke out. To the point where it actually stopped running. But it felt and sounded like it was only running on one cylinder. And like I said earlier, a guy came along and jumped me and it fired right up and I was able to make it home (about a mile away). Shut it off and it was dead as a door nail.

Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate it.

Sounds identical to a Sportster problem I had a few years ago. In my case, wiring under the seat got separated when I reinstalled the battery (disconnected the stator). Had to trace the harness, which was a pain, but found the pinch point and added a short length of wire to prevent the strain that caused the break. If your plugs are badly fouled, that's a real clear sign of the problem.

Stators usually get toasty because of excess load or being under very high load for a long time.

If your battery was not fully charged you placed an immediate high demand on your charging system that can cause the regulator or the stator or in some cases both to fail. The charging system in an H-D (or any vehicle for that matter), has never been meant to charge a battery from being dead to fully charged. This is why a battery that is under charged never seems to fully recover even after a long ride. Besides not helpgin your battery to recover faster you also keep the charging system maxed all the time. Add lights and ignition and a heat related failure is well on the way.

The moral of the story is to keep your battery on a battery tender when in storage or even if you are not able to ride regularly. If you end up needing a jump, charge the battery fully using a charger and check the charging system before riding again.

Oil will weep into the stator plug from the primary over time so don't assume the stator is fried yet. Here is a link to an article that will help walk you through the trouble shooting of charging systems.

https://www.directparts.com/static/articles/harley_alternator.htm

Excellent! Thanks, guys.

Update on stator problem....

Battery was totally shot and the system just coudn't keep it charged it up. Replaced it with a new Interstate battery and rode it around today and ut started up every time. Prior to getting the battery I checked out the stator and the regulator. Both were good! Man, do I feel BETTER!!!

Thanks to you all for the advice.