So, there I was this morning, my licence dangerously close to actually expiring and I was heading for the centre to renew. Turned the key on the 4s and the dash lit up, the pump primed and I stabbed the button — nothing. No click, no whirr, no attempt to turn over. Bugger! Tried the wee two pin plug on the starter solenoid. No joy. Nothing for it but jump in the cage. Got back this evening and tested the voltages. 12V to the hot side of the solenoid. Hit the button — zero volts on the motor side. But, as I've now been the proud owner of my ST4s since 2008 and some 47k miles, I know that there are certain bits that are consumables: rear brake master cylinders, oil pressure switches and of course, starter solenoids. So, next to my spare master cylinder, oil pressure switch and multiple spare front wheel bearings, sits my spare starter solenoid. Fifteen minutes later, and the stealth fighter is ready to scramble again. I love Ducatis. As my sig says, owning a Ducati has made me a better mechanic. A
yeh? just makes me grumpy of late. should of dealt with all the niggles over the winter. sure i said that last year and the year before that and the year before that.
Yep, Ducatis are still bike where you can be a mechanic, not just a fitter. The older the better that way. I went to India a few years back and rode round on a Royal Enfield. Reminded me of all the 4 stroke singles I learned to fix as a kid. String the whole bike with a small tool roll. I started to look forward to one of the bikes breaking down so I could strip and fix it...
And, wouldn't you know it - the fucker wouldn't start this morning! It is doing that little two spark cough when I turn it over and then won't catch properly. Bastard thing usually needs an ECU reset after doing this. That usuall means disconnecting the ECU from the power for about an hour and then reconnecting and starting up. As the rougher chaps of these parts are wont to say: "Ye fuckin' hoor's bast'd!" Quite. A
Minor update: Left it on charge all day and then came home and disconnected the battery for 10 minutes. Reconnected and she fired up straight away. She has done this a few times now, and it sounds like the issue that is only solved by a new ECU. On a near 60k miles machine, feck that for a game of soldiers. May have to just do the old endurance racing trick of stashing two allen keys and a 10mm spanner under the seat for such eventualities. A
