Ah, I see. So presuming it’s a fault with the immobiliser could I get the bike going again just by having the ECU flashed and then running a generic speedo/tacho like a Motogadget or similar? When the speedo died the other week I was thinking of doing that anyway, albeit I didn’t know I’d need the ÉCU flashing. Thanks
Thanks. I have a Motogadget on my S4 spesh and I remember now that it was during the fitting of it that I learned that some S4 models have their immobiliser inside the clocks. Luckily the immobiliser on mine was outboard and IIRC is attached to a u shaped bracket that sits between the top of the forks. Any recommendations for where I should get the ÉCU flashed please?
Thanks for that and thanks to everyone who chipped in with advice. I’m going to try flashing the ECU first as I needed to change the clocks anyway and will report back here afterwards
No offence Zhed but im glad its just your bike with issues and there arent actually 996 people dead in some kind of horriffic tragedy (which i keep seeing every time i read the thread title).
Hi, all, I need to dust off this thread and breath some life back into it. I have inherited the S4R that this thread concerns and want to see how much work and expense is involved in getting it running. I am getting a lot of help from someone who actually knows what he is doing, as in he has restored several bikes. No Ducatis though. The first thing you need to know is that the bike came with a single black key, so no red key or code card. As mentioned in a previous post, the clocks are completely fecked. The bike does need a new battery but we hooked up to a good battery and, with the ignition on, there is no sign of life from the clocks at all. I contacted Ducati to explain the situation. They phoned me to say that they can't recreate the code and I’d need a new instrument cluster (which contains the immobiliser), keys & locks, and ECU. The ECU alone retails at about £1200, clocks around £550 and I’m guessing keys and locks will be over £250, and that's all a bit too rich for this project. I assume that if you have the code card you can get a blank red key cut and then program it. If that’s not the case then I don’t understand the function of the code card, not that this affects me in this case. I couldn’t understand why I’d need a new ECU so I have been scratching around various forums looking for why that might be. This is what I think I know. Please chime in if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick. A virgin immobiliser and ECU are both initialised using the red key. This initialisation involves programming security info into OTP memory (one time programmable) on both ECU and immobiliser which creates an immobiliser, ECU and key, matched set. All three have to be present and working or the bike won’t start. If you have the red key then you can replace the ECU or instruments/immobiliser individually but without it you have to replace the lot (keys & locks, immobiliser and ECU). Important to know if you are buying second hand. I’ve read that it is possible to get the ECU re-flashed to effectively ignore the immobiliser but I’ve not read anything that substantiates this claim. Does anyone have first hand experience of this? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Some years ago I sent my mates ECU to Avanti Racing to have the immobiliser disabled. Worked a treat.
Thanks for the info. I actually emailed them a while ago but they never got back to me. My email is maybe sitting in their junk folder. I’ll phone them.
“We are now able to provide an ECU diagnostic and repair service for all IAW5.9 ECUs, as used on most Ducatis since 2003 onwards, including 749, 999, 1098, 1198, 848, ST4S, Hypermotard, SuperSport, etc.” appears in the small print at the bottom of their website page. Andy
They definitely have the expertise to delete the immobiliser function. Does point out on their website that they’re moving office and at present not taking on work.
A long shot I know but I’m looking for the front cover for the S4R clocks. If anyone has one lying around I’d be delighted to take it off your hands. To maximise my chances of finding a cover I’d like to know which other bikes use the same clock housing. There are a number of bikes with clocks that look very like the S4R. The S4 and S4RS, no surprise there, but the 800SS, 900SS, 1000SS and the 695 clocks look much the same. Does anyone know if these bikes have the same clock housing? Does anyone know what other bikes use the same clock housing?
Got the bike running today, big thank you to @chrisw for reprogramming the ECU, and it sounds great. The reason it died is because someone had been in the petrol tank, possibly to replace the fuel filter, and had lost the hose clip for the fuel filter input hose so used a cable tie instead. It didn’t hold. It now has a Jubilee Clip. The original water pump on the bike has packed in at some point and an electric pump put in the system. I understand this is because replacing the water pump requires splitting the engine casings. The power for the electric pump runs through a relay that is activated when the ignition is on but it was disconnected from the relay so no power was going to the pump. With the pump supply reconnected the pump runs fine. Does anybody know why the electric pump was disconnected? The picture above was actually a video so you could hear how good it sounds, but it pasted as a still image and now I can’t delete it.
you have to delete it in two locations, there's the one where you edit the actual screen where you may have added text (for example) and then you can scroll down and see "files" in smaller print where you can delete the corresponding "attached file" details associated with that picture.
I’m looking for some advice, but first, here’s the story. As some of you will know my wife and I are trying to raise funds to get our family out of Gaza. @Zhed46 very kindly donated the bike that is the subject of this thread. My idea was to get it running if possible and then sell it. The bike is now running and running very well. The electrics seem in good shape too. There are some maintenance things it needs like brakes overhauled, steering head serviced and these can be done at little cost. A couple of indicators need replaced again at little cost. A number plate hanger is needed. All small beer and they’ll be done because I’d like to sell the bike with an MOT. There are some items that require a bit of money. The major expense being the clocks need replaced. £650ish for new clocks, £350ish for second hand from fleabay. Or I could get a third party, GPS speedo. The belts need done, say £100. As I previously mentioned, the water pump is dead but an electric one has been added. Replacing the water pump should cost less than £200 if we do the work ourselves (not a small job but I have help). Without these I guess I’m looking at selling the bike as a project but in running and hopefully street legal order. Without attending to these items, any idea what I could reasonably ask for the bike? If I do fix these items will I recoup the cost? Cosmetically, the bike needs a clean and polish, which will be done. The little bikini fairing is missing as are the mirrors. It has a bar end mirror on the RHS. It has three or four small patches of paint off the tank, the tank is black, and no Ducati logos because it had been wrapped. We peeled the wrap off because it had blistered. A small patch of paint is flaking off the rear wheel - they’ve been painted gold. They were originally black I believe but the gold looks good. Anyway, I feel it’s unlikely I’d get a colour match so we’re possibly looking at getting both wheels resprayed. The rear section of the chain guard is missing and should probably be replaced to avoid chain lube getting thrown over the pillion. Are these worth doing, as in will I recoup the cost? There probably aren’t definitive answers to these questions but I’d be interested in your thoughts. Thanks.
