Ducati Monster Forum

Hey all,

I've noticed that the bike can have a hard time starting up and will die from a cold startup unless the choke has been engaged for at least a couple minutes. Regardless of outdoor temperature, lows 60s up to high 80s the bike needs to run for a couple minutes. I assume this is normal. The bike is also brand new still with only ~600 miles and I'm wondering if this is also just a matter of the engine being warn in. One thing I also hypothesize is the high elevation (~5500 feet) of my geographic location may also be part of the issue? Generally how long should the choke be engaged for and what am I supposed to be looking for in terms of when the bike is ready to be ridden off. I've thought the bike is ready to be ridden more times than I can count, pull in the clutch, drop to first and boom the bike dies. A minute or so longer of higher RPM idling and then sometimes a not so eager 0 to speed and I'm off. I've noticed the bike can sometimes chug and buck slightly at the start of a ride as if I've woken up my child from sleep that reluctantly has gotten out of bed.  [laugh]

Also, noob question. I've been disengaging the choke before I take off, but could the choke still be partially engaged/fully engaged so I can ride off quicker? Or should I allow the bike to warm up, disengage the choke and then ride off as I have been?

This is something I've been wondering and would appreciate some guidance. It's also gonna start getting colddd soon and I'm hoping to get some last few weeks of cool riding in before the snow, ice, and salted roads start at which point I don't plan on riding at all until Spring. At this point It'll become snowboarding time :)

btw as I mentioned in another thread, do any other skiers/snowboarders see similarities between riding and skiing/snowboarding (riding haha) I've just started to realize things like turning my head through a turn, finding "lines", looking far ahead are all things that one wants to do on both. I believe those skills and balance has helped with my introduction to motorcycling. Carving down a long moderate run and turning through some twisties produce similar excitement for me. Just a thought.

Love you guys!

Im not a mechanic, but Ive heard its not good to have the choke on longer than necessary.. and you definetlyl dont want to ride with the chock on.

It is my understanding that keeping the choke on while you ride makes it burn too rich, which causes soot buildup. It would probably seem like you get better low end torque with the choke on, but you will lose HP. I always shut off the choke before I begin riding.

What is necessary? I seem to find myself guessing and if it doesn't die than I'm off.

Also should I progressively lower the choke setting as the bike warms up, or go from full choke to off? I've noticed the bike gets RED hot pretty quickly with full choke on.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=23237.15 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=23237.15) found the post i was looking for.

no modern FI bike has a choke anymore. its a fast idle lever. Your ecu controls the fueling

Until your bike is idling at 1200rpm without the fast idle level on, it's not ready to go.

you should start it at max and lower it slowly keeping it below 2000rpm (I keep it lower about 1600rpm)

+ 1

Most manufacturers that utilize a fast idle lever (there are fewer and fewer these days as most others have gone to IAC valves) recommend

* Using the fast idle lever for all cold starts
* Minimizing the amount of warm-up time at a stand still
* Riding slowly/gently the first few miles as the bike warms up

That said, there is likely no harm in leaving the fast idle lever on a little longer and the worst that happens from shutting it off too soon is the motor may stumble or die at/near idle.

NOW all that said, the salesman at FBF told me something that I remain skeptical about.

He said the techs there told him the actual start-up sequence is important. I.E. that the ECU is programmed for additional enrichment for cold starts based on activation of the fast idle lever BUT ONLY IF YOU turn the KEY ON first, THEN actuate the lever.


He claimed that IF you turn the key on AFTER you've already pulled the lever that the ECU will not use this warm-up strategy. If this is true, this is the first bike I've ever heard of such at thing. But to be sure, we've followed his recommendations and not had a problem.

On my S2R I would turn the bike on first, then adjusted the lever to just under 2K (around 1800) and adjusted as needed. I never cranked it to full unless I was having issues staying on.

Same here, adjust as needed.  I have ridden with the fast idol on, a short and careful distance to ensure it was idling ok and once up to temp release it.

The instructions in the owner's manual for my S2R says to push the cold start lever to the max, start the bike, then adjust the lever downward.

The cold start lever is also known as the "slow speed cruise control" as it merely opens the throttle bodies and revs the engine.

I adjusted mine so that it revs at about 5000 rpm when at full, so when cold starting I only move it a little.  At 5000 rpm, it's a useful highway cruise control.

  That lever is not a choke but more fast idle( I'm sure there are also there fuel adjustments made by the computer also) but I leave my neighborhood in a hurry so not to wake the kids and neighbors.
 I have a signal light a block away and my bike would usually stall there until I learned to better control the throttle quickly when I stop. I tried rising the fast idle lever while waiting but at times I left it on and wondered why my bike did not want to stop at the next light,  :)  so that technique  stopped quickly.
 I think the fast idle lever first to get you going, and then learning to better apply throttle at your next stop until the bike warms up.

Lets see... 5500 ft, likes to snowboard...
I'm guessing you're in the Denver/CO Springs region somewhere?

Anyway, I've noticed that with my gf's 696 with the current temp drop here in the Denver area, that I haven't even needed to use the Fast Idle Level anymore when starting the bike. Sure, it idles at around 900 rpms for the first minute or so, but I'm able to give it throttle and take on off down the road about 30 seconds or less after starting it.

Her bike now as about 4300 miles on it.

BC.

I learned with my first Ducati.
Use the fast idle lever to warm it up while stationary.
Having it on while riding... very costly mistake, well insurance did pay for the Ti pipes :D

Nah, I'm in the Reno, NV/Tahoe area.

I wouldn't call THAT the mistake.

There's nothing the fast idle lever can do that your left and right hands shouldn't be able to manage.  ;)

Fire up, push lever to keep rpm at 1200-1300, adjust until no longer needed. I've only had to use it when the temps were below 75. I have a '11 with 2000 miles. Mine idles at 1100-1200

My 696 with 7k miles still exhibits the behavior you've described, I really like your analogy to a sleeping child.

I use the fast idle to warm up the bike while I gear up, and leave it on for the first few blocks I ride to avoid the stumbling/dying at stops. After that I ride easily until it is fully warm and then I ride how I feel or however traffic dictates.

Because it is only a fast idle, I.e. Opening the throttle bodies and injecting additional fuel I can't see how it would cause any issues using it as I do, the worst I can see happening is decreased fuel mileage and slightly higher temps at the exhaust.

They (whomever they are) say don't ride with the fast idle lever on because as the bike warms fast idle increases.  If you forget to turn the fast idle off while riding you can find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation since the throttle won't go down to idle speed when released.  Real issue?  Up to you. 

There is a camp that believes no modern vehicle should be armed at a sit-still because the EFI mapping tends to be overly rich for cold start and cold run rpm tends to be highy (partly in an attempt to get the 02 sensor up to temp for closed-loop operation).

The fear is that the overly rich mixture tends to wash down oil from the cylinder walls and/or lead to extra contamination/dillution of the oil.

So the recommendation is that if you ride/drive the vehicle lightly during warm-up it will reduce the amount of time it spends operating in an overly-rich condition.



Sounds like complete crap to me.

Crap.  Setting the idle at a smoothe idle point, and riding away is not a danger any more than riding down the street when it's warm.  If you are riding off cold with the fast idle at 5000 rpm then, Su El Stuipdo.