Hi all, I am just wondering if anybody might be able to help. A little over a week ago I went for a spin on my new to me S2R 800. (I was on here 2 years ago with an ST4S but sold it). the Bike is a 2005 model. After about 30 miles the bike, when I camr to a junction just died, I pulled over and tried it a couple of times and nothing. I waited a bit and tried again and off she went. I went about 10 miles more and rolled off for lights and it diesd again, pulled it over and tried it and it fired straight up, (it starts very well when it does start). I drove home, about 40 miles and all was well. A few days later I went out for a short spin, all ok,I parked and had a cup of coffee and again no start, home on a tow truck. Went out a few times the following day and tried it, nothing and then after one or two tries it fired just like that. I left it running for a few minutes turned it off and tried again and it was fine, interestingly I turned it on, pressed the starter and when it fired I knocked it off pretty much straight away, tried it again and nothing. When this happens, I press the starter and release it but the starter keeps turning, I have to turn off the ignition to get the starter to stop??? Went out to it last night and four or five tries no go, took out the key put it back in and away she went, Went out today and it started fine, knocked it off and tried again and nothing. The fuel pump can not be heard priming when this occurs, and the usual, the starter stays turning as if the button is being held in. I have opened the starter/killswitch block on the bars and cannot see anything, it all looks good and very clean (there are only 8900 miles on the bike from new) It has a new battery etc. I have looked at relat fuses etc and cannot see anything. I did see on a US site that this problem of the starter keeping running when the switch is released was a problem when the bikes were new, people brought the bikes back to dealers who seemingly "fixed" it but no one on the forums knows what they did in the dealers or what the problem was. It was just fixed. Did anybody here hear about this? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I think the answer lies in why the starter keeps turning..or not, I did see a forum where a guy said about ignition barrels getting jammed a bit inside, he recommended graphite to be put into the barrel, I did this one day and of course the bike started, but it seems to be coincidence as it is refusing since. Thanks in advance.
The immobiliser antenna in the plastic housing around the key can become dislodged, worth checking that
Back again, checked the antenna and it appears secure. I did then see a connector block, I moved it and also noticed that it ought to be sitting on a clip on the headstock, did that and she fired up again,,,,but is it fixed, its a bit of a pita..... Not a fuel line, when it does this you can hear that the pump does not prime when you turn the ignition on.
I had something similar on my S2R Thou - the wiring to the fuel pump inside the tank had become damaged with leaning the tank too far back and therefore straining the wiring where it goes into the tank - worth a check. I'm guessing that we have similar fuel systems ?? You can buy new pump harnesses but fitting them is a bit of a faff but do-able
I think you may have an electrical connection issue, certainly that’s where I’d start to check. Get hold of a wiring diagram and then go through every connection in the starter circuit, including earths, then every connection in the ignition and fuel injection circuits. Disconnect them, make sure their clean and there’s no build up of verdigris, reassemble and also do the same with the negative to frame earth connections. You may not find an obvious culprit but in doing so you may very well cure it. It sounds to me like a poor/intermittent electrical connection, or worse, more than one. It happens with physical age (corrosion) perhaps more so than with miles.
Thanks Paul, I have been doing that and the day before yesterday I found the block connector at the headstock. It was meant to be held to the headstock with a clip but was loose. I had a fiddle and put it back on its "perch"....the bike is now starting again,BUT, this has happened before so not sure that I have fixed it as yet.
If I recall correctly, part of the loom around the headstock can collect water leading to rotted insulation might be worth asking on the UKMOC forum ( www.ukmonster.co.uk I’m admin on there)
You may want to have a look at the full thread but had some starting issues too on my monster too. I would like to also add that a bad earth from the engine to the frame can cause a lot of electric problems...had an issue on a 1000SSie
I have an S4R and had a number of starting issues. One of the things it had, and yours sounds the same, is "Auto start" so when you push the starter and release, it will keep cranking until it starts. I would replace the mini relays under the tank, if it has the same as the S4R, with 30 amp ones and give all the connections a birthday. I ended up bypassing the auto start as it was pissing me off but in hindsight do not think that was the problem. My bike seems to not recognise the key often so I have to turn it off and back on again. Once running it never faults.
That’s a good point from @laava, what year is your bike? In the mid 2000s Ducati sent bikes out with a one touch starter feature, ie you only needed to press the starter once, didn’t need to keep it pressed, and the starter circuit was energised and the starter would continue to turn until the bike fired up.
The starter in your bike is designed for 1 touch operation. It will keep turning the engine until it fires. I doubt it's an immo problem as the bike won't even turn over if the immo doesn't recognise the key. If you can't hear the pump prime that's likely to be the cause. have you tried replacing the 2 relays next to the battery (or at least swapping them round as a test) they are cheap 5 each and fail often and cause all sorts of grief If that doesn't fix then I'd investigate the fuel pump and it's wiring as others have said.
Hi all, many many thanks for all the help, I was away for a bit so apologies for the delay. @Monsterped, yes I was on that forum and tried to log in one day on my phone the upshot was I somehow managed to lock myself out of the forum, but I am back on it now. I checked lots of stuff, checked the relays and it didnt seem to help. I was very interested in the one touch starter, I didnt know about that, thanks. A couple of days ago I was looking and found a connector block that was supposed to be held in place on a clip on the headstock. I opened it and it seemed or looked, as far as I could tell to be ok. I put it back on its clip, it had not been on it and hey presto the bike started. It has been performing flawlessly now for 5 days or so, I have gone out and done about 70 miles. Is it fixed, that is the thing, or the big question. Could that block have been the problem, hard to believe so I will keep an open mind LOL Thanks again everyone.
I had exactly the same symptoms you describe on my Multistrada of similar vintage, with one touch starting. It turned out to be the ignition relay was on its way out. I replaced the relay and never suffered the same problem again. You said you’d checked the relays, but it might be worth just replacing the ignition one if you have any further issues
I have the continuous start in my 999 and in my M1000, if I remember rightly it will run for ten seconds if the engine doesn’t start. Also if there’s an issue with the immobiliser I think it tells you on the dashboard. Warning light or something. I had lots of issues over the last few months starting the M1k , the cure(s) were a replacement starter motor (a magnet had come loose inside jamming the rotor intermittently) , bad engine to battery neg at the engine end (measured fine on the multimeter) and more recently reg/rec went down leaving the battery low. During these issues the engine would occasionally stop at a junction causing much swearing. I think for me it was happening under braking or declaration so I guess the G was annoying the bad connection. These problems are a pain but the diagnosis is the hard part so good luck.
