Starting report.......after exactly 4 weeks in garage, with no optimate, standard battery, the multi started as normal first push of button and maybe 3 or 4 seconds cranking. The battery read 12.8 when I put it away and 12.2 before I started it. I have the heavier cables fitted, though when I got them fitted I was told that they could have fitted an uprated earth quite easy and cheaply and this makes the difference.
The earth cable seems to be the one that makes all the difference. So many bikes have intermittent faults for a weak earth connection !
I had a Mutistrada in this week for poor cold starting, took the earth and starter leads off, cleaned and soldered all the crimps. Ran another extra cable from battery -ve directly to the starter casing. I was amazed at the difference it makes, before it was a pig to start and now it will fire up in a second or less!. I think it was the sum of all cables that made it spin just too slowly to fire up before.
The down side of soldering is that it makes a solid joint at the connector. These vibrate like mad and can break / fray. Not an issue, so long as you can see and inspect the joints regularly. Personally I wouldn't solder a crimp connector.
Well mine are being fitted next week so hopefully my 1098 starting will improve because it doesn't fill me with confidence at the moment!
My only regret is that there wasn't a kit available when I had my SS. I was always worried about getting stranded, even a new battery would struggle to turn the engine over.
why are these not fitted as standard from the factory ????? would like to put them on my SF but no way could I get my hands in there to do it
Yes I have a new battery. The bike usually takes 2 attempts to start even though it's kept on an optimate. When I went to Spain recently the bike started on day 1 and was used on track all day but on day 2 it struggled to start and just fired on the 4th attempt as the battery was dying. Yesterday it took 2 attempts again but it wasn't convincing.
When productionising virtually any consumer item the costs are penny pinched to within an inch of it's life. This is one of the "advantages" of being purchased by a large manufacturer like the VAG group. I suspect that the Exact cables are 4-5 times the cost of the OEM, if not more.
When I combined a new AGM (absorbed glass mat) Yuasa with a cable kit, the starting of my 999 was transformed from downright iffy to utterly reliable.
i personally love the slow turn over, i wouldnt want to loose that, then again my bike currently has started first time everytime. its only a diddy 848 though [emoji16]
Batteries get more hammer on Ducati's so fail more regular than on IL4's as do the Sprag Clutches. The Sprag Clutch design changed from the 1098 era to the 1198 so more components are required to effect a repair at a much increased cost as Ducati didn't continue to stock the old variant (so I have been told?). It can end up being costly :Nailbiting: Having a starter circuit designed to work for the life of the vehicle as the original designer intended or at least wished for can only help the situation imho
I can see where you're coming from, I used just enough to bond the cable to the crimp and tried to avoid it wicking down the cable. I don't forsee any fatigue failure due to vibration.
