Right, latest stress with my newly aquired and hardly ridden ST4S .... After bringing it home I removed fairing and ... 1. Changed head races 2. Broke, cleaned & lubed all electrical connectors I could reach 3. Swapped hand controls left to right 4. Stuck a relay feed to the dip bam 5. Fitted some heated grip powered direct from battery (with easy removal fuse) 6. Took the bike on trailor to local small bike shop with Ducati experience for shim check, belt fitting and "could you check the throttle body setting". 7. Fitted bigger main earth and starter cables. No shims needed, faces free of flaking, fuelling adjusted and bike run up on dyno ....116hp. Got the bike home, into garage and started up .... horrible, right off balance. Took it back ..twice. It did feel/sound nicer the second time but now (and probably then but I never really noticed) it'll be ticking over at about 1200 and sort of stumble at the same time as the rev counter flicks down. Then this evening I started it up to see if it was any happier and at one point the rev counter stopped working with the engine ticking over OK and then came back to life when I switched the lights on, stopped agin when I switched them off! And then it started cutting out at tickover. Any bells ringing? I really want to button it back up, set up the rear end and have it ready to go for the end of February and I'm starting to wish I'd not bothered to buy it. Boo Hoo.
Could it be down to your number 2 above? I was taught that if something is working then leave it alone, so perhaps you now have an electrical problem.
Could well be Bob. Trouble is I've had enough high mileage bikes to know the the most common cause (punctures aside) of sitting on the side of the road with a dead bike is electrical failure so one of the first things I do with a fresh bike is check and apply contact grease to all the connector blocks. Time to wield the contact cleaner again, perhaps?
As far as I know if the rev counter dies there is an electrical problem. When you say you broke and lubed all of the connectors - can I ask what with? I have seen copper grease used, which doesn't work. For your relay feed to the main beam, I've done this but I found that earthing the Low Tension side of the new relay through the existing loom caused strange things to happen with the rev counter and temp. display, and I had to earth it through a new wire. Might just be mine, but could be worth a try while you're looking at that area. For the idle problem, what parts of the throttle body setup did they change/adjust? The reason I ask is that the idle settings won't affect the bike's running at wide open throttle, hence why it still made power. Or could it be a tooth out on one of the cams?
many options but I would be (re)checking all ignition feed connectors, main fuse and even battery live/earth connections. did you notice if it had these symptoms before you got changing things or had work done?
when ever i see poor running at low rpm and probs with rpm gauge. start thinking rpm sensor or associated wiring. dont know the system on it but if its got a can system to the dash you would have to assume its ok (can)if the rest of the dash is working.
thanks everyone ..... really nice of you. Grease: Contralube 770 "Connector Protector" from Maplins. Latest crushing blow ..... fitted my spiffing extra heavy starter cables & main earth lead a couple of days ago and was rewarded with no noticable improvement in cranking power. And now the solenoid seems to have gone west ..... now when I push the button there's just a very vague click from the solenoid. I'm hopeing that the solenoid was on the way out, thus explaining the disapointing cable upgrade and the subsequent non-cranking. Aaargh! ps ... anyone know of an automotive application for the solenoid?
It sounds like you might have more than one problem going on at once. As @Desmoboy mentioned above, does the battery have a good charge, and is it being charged by the regulator/rectifier? Have you tried temporarily disconnecting the modifications you have done one by one to see if the behaviour changes? Do you have DucatiDiag or a way of seeing what the throttle position sensor (idle stop position) and the other engine sensors are doing, as well as reading any fault codes? For the stater solenoid, a Yamaha XV535 virago uses a very similar item, but with a fly lead.
Stick a meter across the battery when you hit the starter button. You may start off with an indication of 12 volts at rest and think the battery is good,but that isn't the whole story. The battery may not have enough muscle (cranking power). If this is the case and the battery is very tired you will see a large drop of the indicated voltage as you hit the starter button. Too low and it obviously wont throw the solenoid, it also wont be able to power the dash or rev counter. In addition, below a certain rev threshold( about 1800) the bike may not be running on the alternator voltage but on the battery volts. If they are not good enough you will also see rough idle.
Good idea, I'll get the voltmeter out. The battery is less than a year old so it's a bit of a long shot and the failure to crank is new and sudden.
`My sons 696 monster killed a new battery in a couple of months due to lack of use, no trickle charger and, possibly also a rogue tracker unit sucking a small amount of juice as well.
Just put meter accross the battery .... 12.7v at rest, about 12.5 with ignition on, no further drop when I push the start button. Just a single click from solenoid, push the button again and no further click until I switch ignition offf & back on. Think I may just trailor it over to Luigi's and ask them to make it nice again ..... got a fair bit on my plate at the moment and would rather like a treat!
you can eliminate a lot of things easily and quickly if you want to - a (known good) slave battery and/or a jump lead direct from battery to starter making sure it's in neutral obviously also being prepared for sparks and careful to avoid shorting out - will reveal a lot and if slave and direct jump lead still don't work then it has to be the starter.
That appears to demonstrate that the battery is at least healthy. One exception and possible complication is if the starter button does not actually engage the start solenoid. If not then there will be no attempt to draw a large current out of the battery and therefore no visible drop off when tested as you have just done. I don't think this is likely because you hear a click out of it. Sorry can't be any more help at the moment, good luck
you can even feel a solenoid work with your finger on it, confirmed by the audible. it's pure rocket science on here today
Agreed ..... I'm struggling to keep up. The solenoid "demand" side is certainly working ... can hear and feel it. On the other hand the starter motor, when I stick a jump lead onto it, turns very reluctantly and the leads get pretty hot. Haven't taken out plugs and tried to turn it over yet ... can't honestly say I really want to know if there's something horrible happened right now!
That sounds like the starter motor is trying very hard to turn and for some reason, (seized ?) it cant. A seized starter motor would indeed draw a very high current which you would detect as "fekin' hot". That's the technical term for it. Of course something else seized might have the same symptoms, sorry but you know what i mean. Easy to check though. Plugs out, into gear and roll it.
