NEED HELP WITH THIS ----URGENT-----

[MonsterInDark]

I need to know from any of you guys that know the inner workings of the monsters engine wtf is going on with my bike.....here is what happened...

this morning i fired it up to ride it to work....fired up like a charm...no issues at all....rode it to work but stopped at the supermarket to get a drink...turned the bike off...went inside....came back out...turned on the key...tried to fire it up....ALL I GOT WAS CLICKING NOISES! reminded me of the noise a car makes when the battery is almost dead but trying to turn over....kept trying to turn it over...and nothing...so i popped the clutch and drove it to work....got it to work...let it run for about 5 minutes thinking that if it was the battery it would charge a little...noticed that the head light was flickering like crazy....then turned it off and tried to start it again....didnt even get the clicking noise this time....

ANYONE that has an idea as to what the hell happened in those 3 minutes i was inside and the bike was turned off i would love to hear it! i cant imagine even if the bike was in the on position (which it wasnt) that the battery could drain in that amount of time. which scares me making me think that it might be the starter.... what do u guys think...

[Artful]

Check your chassis ground first. Most likely not the starter, possibly the starter solenoid. Can your hear the fuel pump buzz and does your dash sweep like normal?

[MonsterInDark]

well i dont really know where the ground is lol....and the bike turned on like normal....but when i tried to start it i just got the clicking noise...its just wierd because it started fine 10 minutes before that....

[live2ride]

if he push started the bike, then i would imagine the batter/stator is fine, no? 

i had a bike where the battery really died. but b/c the rectifier was blown, it couldn't charge and thus couldn't stay running.  push starting didn't do anything. 

my vote would be for the solenoid except the headlight flickering thing.  this makes me thing loose connection somewhere.  possibly the main ground.

so thus, i vote loose wire.  start with the battery cables then follow them and make sure everything is nice and tight.

[duccarlos]

Check the fuses. Did you recently do anything which could have pinched or lossen any wires?

[MonsterInDark]

i just went outside to see if it would start...and when i turned on the key it clicked for the first turn...then nothing....so i pulled up the tank and checked the wires on top of the battery...they were tight....idk where the ground is...but maybe thats it....and the guy that owned the bike before me put one of those bright white halogen bulbs in as the low beam and the regular as the high (this is not the problem because its never been an issue before) BUT the halogen one is the one thats flickering...and when i switch it to the high beam (the regular bulb) that one does not flicker.... so the bikes not clicking....but it is still allowing me to pop the clutch to start it....

[MonsterInDark]

i just had a new spring put on the shock on saturday....but i didnt do it myself i had nick from valley ducati do it....

[DarkStaR]

i just had a new spring put on the shock on saturday....but i didnt do it myself i had nick from valley ducati do it....

Check the ground near the back of the motor since that's in the vacinity where they were working to get the spring out/on.  Maybe they knocked it loose.  It should be near the oil breather on the right side of the motor.

That ground wouldn't cause the lights to dim, but it's worth a shot since you know someone was working around there recently.

It looks like an older style monster in your avitar, but you say you have 2 headlight bulbs.  Did you switch out the headlight?

[duccarlos]

Check under the seat to see if any wire is pinched. If the ground is making contact with metal, it would blow a fuse. Check all the fuses to see if any are blown.

[MonsterInDark]

its a 2001....so if that model only came with one bulb then i guess the last owner changed it out...but i didnt myself no....

[Silver King]

Jeez.  I read "URGENT" and I figure someone's in the hospital.  Well, I guess you do need to get home.  That'll teach you to go to work.   

Good luck.

[MonsterInDark]

lol sorry about that one! and i know that there are alot of die hard DMF'ers in here....but i do believe that if they had met the pavement monster they wouldnt be posting about it on here while they were in the hospital haha!

But yes its urgent because i need to figure this out so i can get home later lol...

[Cloner]

The clicking you're hearing is the starter "solenoid" (Ducati calls it a starter relay....both are correct, I suppose).  When you turn on the switch and press the start button the solenoid engages to send current to the starter.  The starter then draws the battery's voltage down below the solenoid's engagement threshold and the solenoid disengages....once it's disengaged the battery's voltage goes back up and the solenoid reengages....wash, rinse, repeat.  Each time the soleniod engages you hear a "click".

This is a symptom of a battery that's undercharged or that is simply "dead".

The headlight flickering is a bit more worrisome.  That is a typical symptom of a voltage regulator that isn't working correctly.  The three phase regulator works by changing the voltage of the field coils in the charging system, and if it changes it willy-nilly you get flickering.....and if it doesn't work at all, but still passes current you'll see the system's natural fluctuations as a flicker, too.  You'll probably want to pay Nick another visit to see if he can remedy your problem.  It could be a grounding issue, but it could be more.  Troubleshooting this issue is pretty straight forward if you have the correct gear, as I'm sure Nick does.  

I doubt anything that was done during the changing of your shock spring caused this issue, but anything is possible.

Have you checked to make sure the battery still has electrolyte in it?  If not, top it up with distilled water and have it charged.  If the regulator has passed full system voltage to your battery it will boil the electrolyte off very quickly, so that might be another symptom to look for.

Do you have any way to check the battery's voltage?  It should be well over 12V DC just sitting still.  More like 14V DC would be a good sign that the battery's health isn't suspect....but I imagine it will be much lower.  Many autoparts stores will check your battery for no charge (hoping to sell you an new one, of course), so that might be an option if there's one nearby.

Good luck!

[MonsterInDark]

Ok guys...i think im might kick myself in the A$$ for this....but my front turn signal on the left side is broken off and i just noticed this today....i saw a diagram that said that the front headlight and the front turn signals are all on the same circuit....do you think these exposed wires on the front left turn signal are messing with the ground in the circuit...draining the battery or something which would be a reason that the front headlight is flickering....? what do u guys think? i literally just this morning noticed that it had broken off....so thats the only thing that has changed sense yesterday i think....

[ducpainter]

Ok guys...i think im might kick myself in the A$$ for this....but my front turn signal on the left side is broken off and i just noticed this today....i saw a diagram that said that the front headlight and the front turn signals are all on the same circuit....do you think these exposed wires on the front left turn signal are messing with the ground in the circuit...draining the battery or something which would be a reason that the front headlight is flickering....? what do u guys think? i literally just this morning noticed that it had broken off....so thats the only thing that has changed sense yesterday i think....

I doubt it.