'12 M1100Evo Starting Issues

[Barney]

tc is not what I expected. guess I'll be taking it in 

[desmodoktor]

Rockwell cycles is the dealer i trust the most... second would be jack trebour and at the bottom of the list is ducati nyc.  I know that Ducnyc suppsosedly has turned over a new leaf but I've still heard some stories about them that make me a bit iffy concerning bring my bike to them.

In terms of working on the bike for more than just warranty issues however I would say ECS is the way to go.  They're not a dealer though so prob cant do anything about warranty work. 

Ive dealt with all three ecs,rockwell and ducati triumph nyc...
First of I'll start with ecs.. Did my 600miles service there. Great guys great mechanics. it sucks they dont do warranty work yet...
Ducati triumph nyc... Do not even think abt bringing ur baby to them.. Bought mine from them, had a leak from the rebound adjuster screw.. Wasted my time!! At the end they said theres no leak ...
Rockwell took care of that 1 2 3 ... The warranty covered parts and labor ..

[Barney]

Good to know    I took took a ride out to trebour yesterday, had the tech give it a once over and he seemed to think a tender would do the trick for me, so I picked one up. 

[desmodoktor]

Good to know    I took took a ride out to trebour yesterday, had the tech give it a once over and he seemed to think a tender would do the trick for me, so I picked one up. 

Yeah try that.. See how it goes .. And u go from here.. My bike has less than 2500miles and thank god no problems (except the leak which was a mechanical problem)  ..... Good luck, let us know if anything. Thanks.

[lillo]

I think I can help. I had the same problem with my 696....it wouldnt start, errors popped up on the screen etc... I brought it into ducati dealer and they found that one of the cables was loose.. so check that all the cables coming from the tachometer are connected and not loose. After that I didnt see any errors. But when I went to fire it up the next morning I had a hard time starting it, even while on battery tender. Okay so this is what I did, I changed the oil and filter (I used oil that was slightly less viscous from 15w50 (Ithink) to i believe 10w 50 or 10w40 (full synthetic). After I did that I reset the TPS/ECU, by cycling the key 3 times (on/off on/off three times without letting it go to completion cycle) then on the four cycle -full I started her- she started up at first try. Ever since never had a problem starting or no codes or errors flashing. Its hard to believe but it worked. Hope this helps

[jerryz]

If the battery is saying 12.1v before starting then its way too low needs to be 12.6v to be healthy.

[He Man]

man. Im stuck with a dead battery right now. this motor is NOT easy to start with a slightly weak battery!  it drops as low as 10.5volts when i thumb the starter. it turned over and over and over and over without starting. Just not enough to get a strong spark and turn the starter over i guess.

The voltage was so low at some points the ECU just powers down and turns back on. the gauges sweep over and the HID begins to hot strike!

no good. This battery is toasted. I cant wait to get a new battery, i picked up a 12cell lithium off a friend. going to throw her in on monday and hope that will cure all the starting issues.

for now shes stuck in the parking lot.

[Howie]

Stuck where?  I can offer you a jump start.  If the charging system is functioning properly and your battery is not completely toas you should be able to make it home.

[He Man]

PM replied to last night!

Thanks for the offer.

I got a ride home this morning from a buddy who waas passing through. Going to bike back there with a tender and tend it over night.

i tried push starting her. man, she does NOT want to start. Injected bikes are a BEAST to push start without some serious speed. I was dragging the tire even in 3rd gear.

[wshtb]

If the battery is saying 12.1v before starting then its way too low needs to be 12.6v to be healthy.

This.

I used to have a 749 and it was really hard to start. Battery will read around 12.3 after a couple days of sitting. I replaced the battery, then everything is well again.

[He Man]

You have to read the voltage when you push teh starter. when loaded, you want it to stay above ~10.8volts loaded. if it drops below that, it begins to become difficult to start. Not enough to turn and power the plugs.

you can have a battery read 12v with no load on it. so its not a correct way to judge a battery.

[Howie]

You have to read the voltage when you push teh starter. when loaded, you want it to stay above ~10.8volts loaded. if it drops below that, it begins to become difficult to start. Not enough to turn and power the plugs.

you can have a battery read 12v with no load on it. so its not a correct way to judge a battery.

Sorta.  Just taking a voltage reading across the battery tells you the state of charge.  If a standard lead acid battery reads less than 12.6-12.8 volts it is not fully charged, higher for AGM and gel batteries, jury out for exact numbers.  A fully charged battery is not always a good battery.  Normally a load test confirms this.  1/2 CCA (cold cranking amps or 3X the amp hour rating for 15 seconds and the battery should stay above 9.6 volts.  Since most of us don't have the needed equipment He Man's test works quite well, but the battery must be at least close to full charge.

[lillo]

guys its most likely not the battery... like I said I had the same problem and various people also told me it was the battery and that the voltage reading had to be at a specific value etc... I proved them wrong... change your oil to a slightly less dense one + KN filter and then you will thank me. Cheers

[Howie]

It is really easy to check the battery and rule that out if the battery is good.  Then you check t be sure all connections including grounds.  Sure, if you are running 20W-50 in cold weather changing to a lighter (as long as the weight is acceptable to manufacturer) may help since the heavier oil will add load to the starter.  K&N filter?  Please explain that one.

[lillo]

yeah filter has nothing to do with the starting issue, I just added that info to inform what filter I used that is all haha