Oh the joys of electrics and other concerns...... On the new pre enjoyed 2006 999s bought in June, I left it in for a service straight after purchase and we discovered an issue.....I have just had the ignition barrel replaced and a good chunk of the wiring loom. The previous owned put on a home made tail tidy and left the two wires for the reg plate hanging down, completely exposed and of course they met, and shorted. Lots of damage now sorted. New barrel €200 + labour. My expert could not recode the new black key stalks that came with the ignition because the red key was just dead. Never used in anger previously. He did however manage to switch the black key code innards over to new key stalks and all fine. However, I would like to know how important the red key could be to me and should I be trying to have the issue resolved or can it be resolved? The Ducati wiring man said he had seen this happen before that the red key can sometimes just die. Another mild concern is the possibilitl of mileage tampering. The clock says 3.5k miles and the bike would suggest same. Absolutely immaculate bodywork, no noticeable handlebar grip wear or wear on rear brake or gear lever rubbers. No pitting on casing behind rear shock and rear shock immaculate. There are however Bridgestone battle-axe tyres (I thought Ducati shipped with Pirelli? Also the air filter seemed to have far more inducted than one would expect for 3.5k miles. Any other tell tale signs I should look for? Rgds G
I went through exactly the same scenario when a LED tail light flashed the whole loom on my 999. You appear to have paid over the odds to fix your ignition. The easiest method is to buy an ignition lock with no key, drill out the security bolts and then transfer the wiring over to your original ignition lock. No need to replace keys then. The main purpose of the red key is to code your keys to the ECU. It is not a massive issue to lose use of the red key as it is now possible to clone the chips in the black keys to a new key. I know with the cloning method it is a one time only thing and you cannot recode them, I don't know if this the same for the coding method via the red key. I take it he followed the method described in the service manual. As for the air filters, they soon sh!t up 749/999 air filters
Hi Chris Very reassuring. Many thanks. I paid list for a new barrel and wiring from NI. The consolation for me that my expert only charged me €50 for two days hard graft sorting out installation and the other wiring issues - I must be a good customer! Thanks again for your note. G
