I'm 39 today so a day off and a nice ride down to the coast seemed like a good idea. About 1/3 the way there the yellow light of DOOM appears and ERRORS DEVICE DES shows up in the round display, a quick detour to Alton Ducati who confirmed that its the electronic suspension control unit that may be the issue but that the bike was still ride able I just couldn't change the suspension settings. So I decide to take a long run home and half way back the fault disappears and a quick check shows that the suspension will adjust ok again. 10 miles later and the fault is back. The bike is a 2010 model and came from Ducati Aylesbury in november 2014 and I paid for a 2 year extended waranty and am currently waiting for a call back to confirm if it needs to go to them or somewhere closer like alton or reading. It could be a loose or worn connection as the fault seems slightly intermittent but I'm not going to investigate myself as thats what the waranty is for. At least I can still ride it, although the yellow warning light is somewhat distracting.
There should be more information that than that. Is it rebound or compression front or back or Preload on rear? The connectors are prone to corrosion, but easy to clean and remove with a small jewellers screwdriver. Don't forget if it is the SCU you can replaced it for under £250 with the new Mechatronics one, saving £500 on the standard SCU.
thats all the display shows, tech from alton said it would need plugging in to assess. whats the advantage to the newer/cheaper unit if it is the scu ?
I must be one of the first to report DES errors. Ducati UK know my problems! They come from loose connections between the front sensor wiring to a control box under the nose, or the rear swingarm sensor wire. The rear issue has been sorted since the recall late 2013. It was a heat shrink problem with the wiring. The front is trickier to solve. As the yoke turns and forks move, it may cause the wiring to stretch out and tug on the connection. That can lead to the error. But a power cycle usually sorts it out. There isn't a fantastic solution. If it doesn't go away, your dealer will have to check the whole wiring, clearn the connection and make sure there is no tension. This is labour intensive. After a few wire servicing, I found that if it happens, all I need to do is to power on the electricals (to engage the SkyHook), bounce the forks up and down, move it lock to lock, and it won't appear again. Worse come to worse, Ducati UK recommend changing the whole 3-pin connector. But its a recognised problem for the front; rare it may be. Just ask Snells to ring Ducati UK if they're not sure. The sensors and ECU themselves are faultless.
Right having looked at the manual the fault shown is DEVICE DEC which is suspension ecu not working. Interestingly I left the bike on its centre stand in my garage and before I went out I checked that the error was still there which it was, I have just re checked by waking up the bike but not starting it and the fault is gone, now as none of the cables or wires have been moved and as the fault indicator points to the suspension ecu I'm guessing the ecu is failing intermittently. My warranty company are happy for me to use any dealer and a quick chat to the guys at snells who saw the fault earlier confirmed that they could possibly fit the newer control unit depending on what their investigation showed.
ok a quick 30 mile night blast to check out the lights and the fault is nowhere to be seen, I suspect an intermittent suspension ecu fault.
A quick eBay search shows a working ecu currently sitting at £20. Might be worth shipping it in as a backup. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=321737215326
