Evening all, Finally picked up an ST2 yesterday to start my first Ducati project build. Having problems getting it started though. The bike is a real pig, its not been looked after all and has had an alarm fitted which doesn't help. Battery is completely dead so I tried jumping it with leads from my car. Starter motor was spinning reluctantly and very slowly. Then just as it felt like it was about to start it stopped turning over. Checked lots of fuses with nothing blown but seem like the starter switch/solenoid that is linked to the starter motor was just clicking when I pressed the starter button. Any ideas on the problem guys? Is it a known fault on the ST2? Any help would be great.
Could be a) your starter solenoid b) your starter motor c) your sprag clutch Or d) any or all of the above. Check them in the above order and don't start your bike on less than a fully charged battery. You're seriously asking for trouble, and all the above will potentially crap out if you do.
Don't always assume the problem is on the battery side. The earth point behind the riders right footrest on the engine case is another weak point. I had this issue an identified it by using a jump lead from the battery negative to a clean frame bolt to test it, engine spun up nicely. Couldn't get the earth connection off the engine, crappy small Allen headed fastener so I just added a second earth lead from the battery negative to the back of the footrest hanger. People tends to forget that it is a circuit, there needs to be clean connections from the battery out to the component and then all the way back to the battery.
Cheers for this, I bought a new battery and starter solenoid for it earlier so I'll fit those tonight and see what happens. I'll also check the earth point as you suggested Rushjob.
I might try to remove it if I can find some advice about it online. I'll do a thread on it if I do so watch this space!
There was an alarm fitted to the 1098 loom I used on my recent build. I simply followed the wires into the loom, pealed tape, snipped and re-soldered. Not too onerous, just takes a bit of care.
Fair play cheers lads, I'll try and get it running first so i can eliminate any separate starter issues and then give the alarm removal a try.
Evening all, just so you know I got the ST2 running last night. I followed Kiwihame's advise and replaced the battery, when I did the this I could here the starter solenoid clicking. I replaced this with a new one and hey presto it started straight up. Cheers for all the help.
