Ducati Monster Forum

So I'm on my way home from work today, splitting the two most left hand lanes on the 101 North going through downtown Los Angeles.  At about 30 or 35 mph my S4RS went completely dead.

I was able to get the bike to the center divider safely, which is kinda impressive considering that the traffic was bumper to bumper stop and go, and my bike, while traveling at more than 30 mph, had no power, so braking was tricky.

When finally situated safely on the shoulder of the center divider I noticed smoke coming from around the rear header pipe.  After much searching I realized that the smoke was coming from under the seat.

Took the seat off to find that the voltage regulator was toasted; literally.  The plastic of the underside of the seat was melted into the cooling fins of the regulator, and the regulator was melted down into the plastic of the crank-case-vent-oil-collector-tank-thingie.

The wires coming out of the regulator were fried.

My speedo and tach needles are frozen at the 10 o'clock position.

At this point I'm just hoping that the damage is limited to the regulator and vent tank.  Hopefully the gauges reset when I finally get this disaster powered up again.

I'll post pix tomorrow or so.

Crap.

Well that's the second report in a week or so.

Another member posted on the Tech board here: http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=42736.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=42736.0)

Mine went a few months ago. Different cause - looks like a connector shorted - but regulator was toast. Details in above thread.

It does not fill me with confidence to hear of another S4R/s stopping dead while riding because of an electrical fault.  >:(

Mine died while stationary about to pull out from a rural driveway. Your incident was more hazardous, and with the potential for serious injury. Sounds like you did a great job to get off the road safely.

It is easy to think of yet more dangerous occasions for failure. Overtaking on the highway is one that occurs to me.

Good luck with sorting the issue.

I'm sorry to hear about this sad story NorDog.

I had a VR go out on my 1098 R in the Zaleski National Forest last Summer and I was down in a Valley where I couldn't get a Cell signal.

Luckily a Coal Trucker eventually came by and I gave him my Roadside Assistance info. and when he could get a Cell signal was able to call in.

I sat there for 4 hours ( being eaten up by Mosquitoes since it was very hot and I had to take my Jacket off ) waiting for the Tow Truck to show up.

It was just my VR that had failed.

Shortly thereafter there was a recall on the VR to shield it from the exhaust plus use the same one as the 999R.

Hopefully you just destroyed your VR.

Dolph     :)   

look into the underseat re-locator that puts in a space with more airflow

You make it sound like there's a kit for that.  Is there?

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/13/tracking-your-period-there-s-an-app-for-that.html (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/13/tracking-your-period-there-s-an-app-for-that.html)

Oh man, that's just wrong.

Of course!

Call our friends down in College Station:

https://www.tpoparts.com/cat093/index.php?route=product/product&path=1_11&product_id=165 (https://www.tpoparts.com/cat093/index.php?route=product/product&path=1_11&product_id=165)

mas pictures:

http://www.tpoparts.com/products/53 (http://www.tpoparts.com/products/53)

Thanks.  Are you running this kit on your bike?  Do you like it?  Any problems?

i am not on my Monster - i have *lots* of TPO parts however, and have been really happy with all of them (lightweight front axles, ti swingarm pivots, etc etc)

the reason i am not on my monster is that on the model i have (99 m900) the reg/rec is placed at the front of the frame, above the oil cooler, in direct airflow - completely different mounting location than what you have.

As a long shot I called my insurance company just now and asked if this damage was covered by my policy.  They patched me over to the claims department.

The lady I spoke to was very gracious and helpful.  She assigned a claims adjuster and told me that I am covered for fires.  (I had explained that it was an electrical fire even though it was mostly out by the time I got the seat off the bike.)

There's a $500.00 deductable.

The question is, beyond will my policy actually cover this, is this a case of replacing a couple of parts, or is it a total loss?

I spoke to the service guy at a dealer here in LA and he said it could either be a case of replacing a couple of parts, or be "a really big problem".

Here's to hoping that AAA comes through.   [wine]

Anyone here ever put in a claim like this?

The claims adjuster just called and confirmed that I'm covered for this loss.   [clap]

Here are some pix:

(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll176/nordog59/ClassCFire01.jpg)

(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll176/nordog59/ClassCFire02.jpg)

I'll pull Jeff and Jordan aside today and ask away

It's a known failure point on these bikes, and I'd be surprised if it was more than $500 to replace the seat and the rectifier....

I'm tripping over like-new ones, I'll send you one for cheap, just PM me.

Thanks, but I'm good.

I'll be surprised if it doesn't come to over $500.00.  I'm already in for $100.00 for towing alone.  Add in the $150.00 labor charge for an estimate on today's estimate I signed, then I'm already half way to $500.00 and parts haven't even been ordered yet.

(Can you beat that?  $150.00 for an estimate?)

The parts I know I need are a new seat, volt reg, and vent tank.  Plus, I've insisted that the bikes electrical systems be properly diagnosed to ensure nothing else got fried.  That's gonna run up the tab as well with a labor rate of $99.50 per hour.

I'm not real smart when it comes to electronics, but if there were any type of surge that damaged the ECU, or the gauge cluster, then the dollars add up some more.

The battery in the bike is less than a couple of months old.  Did it get zapped?

Yeah, I don't know.

But I'm gonna shell out the deductible and and the dealer go through the whole thing.

del amo?

Beverly Hills.

I'm in Hollywood, so Beverly Hills is much closer than Del Amo or Pro Italia.

It's your money, spend it when YOU want!   [laugh]

JG Wentworth Opera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbGw3A9Dg-Q#normal)

Must be some of that funny stimulus math or somthing...

Used seat $100 (Avg price for a nice one)
Used reg $25 (because I'm tripping over them)

Bike runs again for $125 instead of $500 out of pocket...

In any case, good luck with the repair, and get back out riding soon :)

Yeah, you missed the part about needing a proper electronic diagnosis and the labor required.

I've been having lot 'o trouble with this bike's electronics and want to make sure that the problems are fixed.  I simply cannot do that myself.  I have neither the equipment nor the work space.

I think you make the mistake of assuming that the only problems with my bike now are it needs a new seat, volt reg, and vent tank?

We don't know that, and in fact, I have cause to suspect otherwise.

but if your bike was having issues BEFORE the burn up, then your insurance won't cover those repairs. only the one caused by the fire.

Fair enough.  I still want, and according the claims adjuster, I'm entitled to a complete diagnostic check of the electrical system.  If problems are found in the process that the adjuster thinks were pre-existing, so be it.  However, I'm not sure how one would distinguish between a previous fault and a subsequent fault.  Besides, given that my policy covers the fire, I think the adjuster and the insurance company would want to ensure that the system is in proper order so as not to deal with this problem in the future.

your adjuster won't know what was pre-existing and what was a stimulus. If you are cool with taking a bit o' insurance hassle, i say go for it. 

we had a truck that had electrical problems, but because there was no smoke or fire, nothing was covered! What a hassle, and the mechanic couldn't believe that it hadn't caught on fire. A lot of money out of pocket or a "totaled" F150 that would not be covered by insurance.

well the best thing that could have happend for you is the fire burned up the wiring harness et al
that way everything is replaced.

I picked up the bike last Saturday.  The voltage regulator was remounted to get some air flow, so I'm confident that the over heating problem will go away.

But the bike wouldn't run.  Oh, it would start up and drive away, but after about 5 minutes it wouldn't idle.  Pull up to a stop, and it would sputter and die.  With some work it would restart but only with the throttle crack open a bit to keep the rpm's up, and then it would run very rough.

Turned around and took it back to the dealer, and then notice that in the 2 months it had been in the shop, the SECOND tank had swollen to the point that the latch on the front of the tank was pressed completely up against the ignition key assembly.

What a nightmare.