Stuck at work ... 695 won't start

mmakay · July 01, 2008, 04:07:22 PM

This morning it fired right up. Drove to work without incident, but when I arrived I couldn't get it to show neutral after I parked. So when I tried to go home, the bike won't start. Still no neutral. Kick-stand up and clutch in ... no go. I can get the bike into neutral (it rolls) but the N light won't come on. All the wishful thinking and cursing and fiddling with wires has done no good.

I called roadside assistance, and they will have a tow here in about an hour. Grrrr.

Howie · July 01, 2008, 04:13:32 PM

Even with the neutral light not working, the bike should start if the clutch lever is pulled in. Are the other dash lights working? gauges sweeping? What is the immobilizer light doing? Did you remove the key and try again?

mmakay · July 01, 2008, 04:32:03 PM

Quote from: howie on July 01, 2008, 04:13:32 PM
Even with the neutral light not working, the bike should start if the clutch lever is pulled in. Are the other dash lights working? gauges sweeping? What is the immobilizer light doing? Did you remove the key and try again?

Are the other dash lights working? Yes

gauges sweeping? Yes

What is the immobilizer light doing? Blinking with no key. Off after sweep.

Did you remove the key and try again? Several times, including removing other keys/fobs.

duckwrench13 · July 01, 2008, 04:35:51 PM

Pop the gas cap. You might just be vapor locked.

Scottish · July 01, 2008, 08:29:18 PM

Check on the back of the engine there is a wire that plugs into a male end, in a hole about the size of a quarter above the swingarm. That is your nuetral indicator sensor. If it came off it could be a safety relay is preventing the start.

mmakay · July 02, 2008, 07:59:19 AM

Well, it was towed to Peninsula Ducati in Sunnyvale. The tech hopped on and it started right up!

They are going to pull the computer codes and see if they can diagnose a problem. I'm just not sure when I'll get it back because of the holiday. double grrrr......

El Matador · July 02, 2008, 08:25:48 AM

It was probably the kill switch honestly. I've had this happen to me before... If you're not used to using the kill switch, somebody could have flipped it in the lot. Last time this happened to me I had half the bike in parts on the garage floor trying to figure out what was wrong when I happened to glance at the handlebars

mmakay · July 02, 2008, 09:43:39 AM

The kill switch wouldn't keep the N indicator from illuminating, though.

Zipper · July 02, 2008, 10:33:48 AM

On my S4, I've had a "false neutral" happen to me a few times (not often, but just a couple of times.) On 2 of those occasions I had pulled over and subsequently turned the bike off. When I went to go start the bike it would not recognize neutral and permit me to restart it. While the bike was in neutral, the green indicator would not light up and the bike would not start. The first time it was a little frustrating the second time I knew what was going on and just clicked through 1st to 3rd a few times with the bike turned off and rocked it fwd and backward a few feet. I don't know if that is what happened in your case or not, but this worked for me...
Good luck, hope she comes back before the weekend.

Snake · July 02, 2008, 10:52:50 AM

I could be wrong, but I believe the neutral indicator light will not light up if the kill switch is off...even if the key is in the on position.

MotoCreations · July 02, 2008, 10:55:04 AM

Other tricks to try when this occurs, put your Ducati Monster in 3rd/4th gear and roll forward a few inches. Essentially bumping the engine with the clutch out. Make sure the ignition is OFF as you don't necessarily want to roll start it. Try starting normally then. Or you can just roll start it in 3rd gear after a running start.

sbrguy · July 02, 2008, 11:12:57 AM

i've had the exact same thing happen with my 620 at times i've gotten everything right an dthen ti would crank and not start at all, or it would just hav ethe engine light on and not even crank.

my remedy is go "oh crap" then sit there for literaly 3-5 minutes and try again, and magically it worked.. why i have no idea.. but sometimes i hav ea feeling that ducati's just do that.

i noticed at times the biek wont' start if you dont' let the gauges completely sweep at times, and soemtimes they dont' even do that so i have to just turn off then on until they do. and then the bike starts.. weird.

mmakay · July 02, 2008, 12:53:08 PM

Quote from: Zipper on July 02, 2008, 10:33:48 AM
On my S4, I've had a "false neutral" happen to me a few times (not often, but just a couple of times.) On 2 of those occasions I had pulled over and subsequently turned the bike off. When I went to go start the bike it would not recognize neutral and permit me to restart it. While the bike was in neutral, the green indicator would not light up and the bike would not start. The first time it was a little frustrating the second time I knew what was going on and just clicked through 1st to 3rd a few times with the bike turned off and rocked it fwd and backward a few feet. I don't know if that is what happened in your case or not, but this worked for me...
Good luck, hope she comes back before the weekend.

I did get a false neutral that morning, so this sounds a lot like what happened to me. The bike got the equivelent of a good rocking when we moved it onto the truck. (Shifting through the gears on it's own didn't help ... but I never tried to roll it except to see if I'd found neutral.)

Shouldn't you still be able to start with the clutch in and kick-stand up, though?

Howie · July 02, 2008, 07:55:59 PM

Yes, the bike should start with the clutch in and sidestand up. Call the dealer and ask if they checked that function.

hansumyo · July 02, 2008, 11:07:27 PM

Might want to read my "695 Died on me while I was riding thread". Not sure if the cause is the same but our problems seem to be related.

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Stuck at work ... 695 won't start