Hi everyone. So afer an R1 and a harley 48 i have gone back to a Ducati and bought an 1198. Rode it today hard with a mate on his 2006 R1 and loved it. I do have a small issue with it and a question re the TC system. The first thing is the faulty dash which has a flashing backlight illumination and the headlight flashes on and off at the same time. Gonna change the voltage regulator on Tuesday and move it to the right hand side of the bike and mount it to the belt covers with a kit i bought from the bay. I will update this later and confirm if the fault is cured. Dealer told me it would prob need a new dash for 860 quid and cant look at it for 3 weeks. Nice. The question re the TC is i was on grass earlier today and gave it some in first gear expecting the TC to do something as the back wheel lit up but nowt happened. Also when leavig the house on a cold tyre going up hill and turning right all at the same time got a bit of a slide. Couple of inches of tyre movement nothing more and bike not really lent over much. Is this normal? No dash faults obv re TC. Any thoughts from experienced owners of one of these would be great. Ta Paul.
Found this on the internet. Very useful as TC does not work below about 12 mph to allow for burnouts etc http://issuu.com/hellforleather/docs/ducati_traction_control
I was advised 3 or 4 is plenty for the road. I keep mine on 4. I found 8 far too much on the road, kept cutting in every other second.
8 is practically unrideable imho. Esp in wet. In fact I used to turn it off on my 1198 as it was pants. But when I did have it on 3 or 4 was plenty. But I have always been progressive on throttle. Im still to see the light on my 1299 and thats at 5. (default sport level)
As above, the TC doesn't kick in until you are doing a set speed, so if you were on grass, I'm assuming you were hardly moving, hence it not kicking in. I know the Nemesis system on my 1098R doesn't activate until you are travelling 30MPH. I ride my Streetfighter S with the standard system on level 3 and never notice it apart from the lights on the dash kicking in every now and again.
Thanks for all your thoughts, when I was on the grass I must have been doing about 5 mph then opened it up in first just to try and get spin. The burnout feature is obviously why it didn't cut in. When leaving the 'T' junction in first, turning right up hill it was the white line in the middle of the road where i experienced a little wheel slip but again the speed cant be more than 10-15mph so I guess too slow for the traction to cut in? I was riding hard on Sunday and never experienced any TC intervention but then I was progressive on the throttle (like bootsam) and it was a warm day with good tyres so wouldn't expect any need for TC I suppose. Really wet days and track days is when it will get tested I guess. I am gonna fit the USB thing as that will show if TC comes in at all, and will check on a day when giving it the beans just out of curiosity. The Voltage Regulator and bracket and loom turned up today so keen to fix the dash/headlight issue more than anything else. Will update.
Exactly what my 1098 was doing, headlight and dash flickering now and then. I replaced my regulator two weeks ago but been on holiday and not had time to test it yet. Hopefully will be doing tomorrow evening. Good luck!
Apparently the headlight and dash backlight goes out because of overcharging rather than lack of voltage.
Well as an update on all of this, the speed when over the white line was 6-8 mph (checked last night) so again no TC at that speed. The Voltage regulator has fixed the dash/headlight issue but I could not relocate the VR with the mounting kit supplied as the VR hit the switch in the oil line just before the oil cooler and the bolts were too long so would not tighten up without damaging the aluminium engine casing. Anyway all good now.
Final comment, I absolutely love the bike. I don't find the power intimidating at all (feels spot on) and the quick shifter is mega. The slash cut termi exhausts sound like no other bike I have had and it looks gorgeous. Having owned a 848/1098/888/916/996/900ss in the past I feel this bike is the ultimate old school duke of the future if that makes sense. (I know I'm in for abuse now!!). Anyway thanks for all your comments, Paul.
Couldn't agree with you more! 1198's rock and base models even more so Last proper Ducati without all the fancy electronic rider aids to be produced! Destined for classic status in the future
