Ducati Monster Forum

I haven't found a starting issue like mine so I'm posting for some help. I had the bike on a trickle charger for most of the winter and would turn it on every few weeks. When I took the bike out of storage in the beginning of this month (april)  a starting issue began to spring up especially on colder days here in NYC. The bike would crank but immediately stop and all electric would cut out, the dash would die and then reboot. I would have to try numerous times and eventually it would start up sometimes with the throttle rolled a bit. I noticed the battery reading on the dash to be 11.8 which is low. So i bought a new battery and bought the motoelectric cables because I heard good things about them. replaced both on sunday, charged the battery and nothing has helped. I can't even get the bike to turn on at all now. The dash still says 11.8 but when i use the multi meter and take a measurement of the battery through the trickle charger extension i get 12.7. I am very confused. I have a motodemic LED headlight conversion btw. Installed this two years ago.

I have a the video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbbXFhk2nFU&feature=youtu.be

Sorry for the glare on the dash I'll take a different video if needed!

Any ideas???

This is weird, I had the same exact problem with a 696 and switched to motolectric cables and it’s been great since.  I used to have to leave it on a tender if I left the bike even for 12 hours overnight between rides.

One thing to check, and I noticed it on my Install—there are two cables that attach to the engine bolt for ground (down near the charcoal canister).  When I removed my original cables the system ground wire was under the ground coming directly from the battery. In other words, the battery ground was not the first cable against the engine.

When I installed my wiring, I used the scotch-brite pad that comes with the wiring kit and fully scrubbed that engine area and the new battery ground cable. Then added dielectric grease there and made sure the battery ground was a nice tight fit against the engine first, then I added the second cable on top (with a dab more dielectric grease).  Tightened the bolt to the proper torque and buttoned everything up.

I now can start the bike no problem. Even a week off of the tender and it starts immediately.  Maybe give that a look?

 [thumbsup]
Cleaning all the ground points you find can make a big difference. That includes scraping away frame paint on a ground point insulated by nice paint (breaks your heart). On four or five bikes I have also run an extra ground cable to the timing case bolt that runs thru the cases into the starter body. The starter relies on grounding through case and case bolt contact but three bond or gaskets can insulate it and not just corrosion or paint.

Thanks for the responses. I won't be able to get to my bike in the next few days but when I do will be sure to scrape the ground points and add dielectric grease. I will surely update.

High resistance somewhere, unloaded you are showing a drop from 12.7 to 11.8  When cranking heat is probably causing the resistance to increase to the point even the dash craps out.  If you did not carefully clean each connection go over your work.  Looks clean doesn't mean is clean.

Best way to find high resistance is checking voltage drop in the starting circuit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry68G0C2Fyc
This works for bikes too.

Well you saved me towing and a paying a mechanic. Embarrassingly I didn't notice the ground lead from the engine harness, all I noticed was the battery ground when I loosened the bolt. It's pretty tight in that area with all the cables and breather hose. Poor lighting  doesn't help either. Bike fires up better than ever now. Before the major starting problem I always had the intermittent 0005 problem where it would take 3 times to start the bike that's prevalent with this generation monsters. Only time will tell if that issue will be resolved by the motoelectric cables.

Thank you all for the replies!!!

Glad to hear it!