ST4S starting issue

I'd put money on the battery, all Ducatis i've had do tend to eat them. If you have one, put a volt meter across the battery then try and start it. If it's dropping into the 10s or worse it's probably had it. You could also connect it to a car or jump starter and if it leaps into life then that's another sure sign it's the battery. If you still got issues then there'll be plenty of advice available but we'll start with the simple most probably item first.

 

I budget for a battery every year on my track bike. Using one daily and i've had a few years out them, but as soon as i park one up, i know a new battery will be needed before fuel is. Maybe i'm unlucky, i dont know, but i've tried just leaving it to go flat and charging before use, no good, i've tried optimate all over winter, boiled it dry, i've tried starting it every couple of weeks and warming it up, still had a cell go down so cold start was no good but ok once warm.
I've given up now, new year, new battery, or keep riding all year. Try the jump start and forget the battery age for now.

 

+1 for the battery. How many miles have you done since June 2011 ? If you are not riding for weeks or sometimes months at a time, I'm with 1037sps, optimates can bugger your battery. My 996 definitely ate at least 2, my ST4S ate 2 from memory and I replaced several on an R6 and a Honda Hornet over several years. Andy

 

Oh good good. For about £10 you can get tins of fuel system cleaner. They normally say pour in a full tank but i generally do it in half a tank-ish. I've had good results in my TL1000, more with throttle response than starting though, and a mate noticed a difference in his GSXR1000 too.
Keep us all posted though.

 

it's always interesting to hear each owner's battery stories as it helps to build an overall picture of what to expect - av. usage-wise. I guess a battery a year isn't a bad idea. I stubbornly stick with Yuasa conventional on all my bigger bikes and my av. replacement is closer to 2 years but although I ride through winter on several the mileage is only around 3K each. I have never used an Optimate or similar.
Re: starting Bigred - I imagine you already know - it might be worth looking at replacing all your starter-related earth and live leads for heavier duty versions or at least checking the junctions of the current ones to see if you can improve the churn-speed. Easy test is to temporarily double-up earth and live (carefully) direct to starter with good quality jump leads to see if churn speed increases. This test rules everything else out apart from internal resistance within starter solenoid but this is rarely significant.

 

Big Red, like Chris I always use Yuasa but prefer the AGM batteries as they last better and retain charge better than normal lead acid batteries. I have a voltmeter fitted to the dash so I can monitor the state of charge without taking the fairings off.

For a bike battery there are four things that will hasten their demise

1. Leave them to run down over winter and then charge them before use in the spring. A discharged battery subjected to sub zero temperatures in the winter is the fastest way of killing them. If you can't charge it then take it off the bike and bring it inside.
2. Put it on an optimate for weeks at a time over winter, this wastes electricity and can result in problems like 1037 mentioned. Although the charger manufacturers claim this not to be a worry, his account is not the only one where this has happened.
3. Charge it once for a few minutes every week by running the engine. If you see how much of the battery's capacity is used up starting the engine you will see that to recharge fully it will take much longer than 10 minutes to warm the engine up. The battery gets discharged a little each time and the deterioration can be worse than simply leaving it, see point 1.
4. Put them on a charger that sticks out too many amps, for most conventional and AGM batteries you need a charger which delivers no more than 10% of the battery Ah rating on bulk charge and which delivers no more than 14.5v, this means nothing that will deliver more than 1.5A for maintenance charging and something closer to 1A is preferred. Also most bike batteries are not recommended to be charged at more than 15v in any circumstance. Do not use a charger that is designed for car use unless it has a bike setting other wise this may damage/buckle the cell plates or boil the electrolyte due to putting in too many amps or volts.

On my 748 it is now on its second battery since its first registration in March 2002. The first one was terminally and prematurely killed off at 7 years old when the the rectifier let go allowing up to 20v into the battery which melted a hole in the case - just as well it was an AGM battery otherwise it ould have spilled sulphuric acid all over the engine. The second one was fitted in April 2009 and is still working well, currently reading 12.9v across the terminals in this warmer weather.

I drive the bike for 3-4k miles per year and only use it when the forecast is dry, I don't use it during the winter when it is salty on the roads. This means it goes out maybe twice between Nov and March for only 10-20 miles each time.

To keep your battery in good shape you need to keep it fully charged over the winter and to acheive this you should only put it on the optimate for a few hours when it needs it. For mine it gets charged if the battery voltage drops below 12.6 or 12.7 depending on the ambient temperature. The voltage is temperature dependant which is primarily due to changes in the battery acid specific gravity. Less than 12.6v in this climate usually means it needs a charge top up. Effectively it needs charging on an optimate for maybe 4-8 hours only every two weeks or so during the coldest weather. The frequency that the charge is required also depends on the age of the battery with older ones needing charges more often over the winter if they are left out in an unheated garage or outside.