696 help?

[duc4speed]

Hey everyone!  I'm a new Ducati owner so I don't know a whole lot about them.  Well any bike for that matter, but I'm learning fast.  I had something interesting happen the other day.  I've had my brand new, 2009, monster 696 for about 2 months now.  I stress the brand new because it's frustrating that I've had these issues with the bike and it's NEW!  0 miles when I bought it.....

Anyway, went to the garage, turned the bike on, waited for the start sequence to stop, green Neutral light on, leaned over to start it to warm it up and it jumped forward.  I jumped forward to catch it and it almost hit the ground.  What gets me:  1) If it was in gear how would it start with the kickstand down? 2)without the clutch engaged 3)as I said before....the bike was in neutral, I rolled it back after it jumped forward. 

The other think is it's a pain in the as* to start sometimes.  I think it idles too low, but Ducati says there's not an idle screw.  It does however have a handle bar idle lever.  I wouldn't think that you should have to choke the bike, every time you start it.  I've actually got down the street to the stop sign and it just dies.

If anyone has had similar experiences or knows what could cause this please help, I would appreciate it.  I called Ducati dealership here in Oklahoma and all they can say is we will look at it when you bring it in for the 600mile service.  I have 425miles on it now.  They are 2 weeks backed up.

Thanks

[Drunken Monkey]

Two things:

Sounds like a false neutral perhaps? Not really sure about that as I'm not familiar with the 696

The fast idle lever isn't a choke. It's literally a lever to make the bike idle faster while it warms up. And even with the marvel of fuel injection, you still need to use it.

Let the bike warm up a bit with it on the higher settings then set it lower before you ride off. Once the bike is fully warmed up you turn it off.

[Wanwo]

Yep, always use the fast idle lever when starting from cold and keep it on a little bit until your engine is up to temp. Works very much like the old chokes.

[Slide Panda]

Re your jumping issue.  It could be a false neutral as DM pointed out.  Also it could be a bit of drag in the clutch.  It's not at all unheard of for wet clutch bikes to put a little power to the wheel when they are cold since the plates can stick a little  and the cold oil acts a bit like a viscous coupling.  But that's usually something that noticed when the bikes in gear and the clutch levers pulled - as opposed to your bike being in neutral.

1)  If the neutral light was on, the side stand interlock is off, so you'll be able the run the bike.  You have had the bike *almost* in neutral, but not quite there when you started.  Close enough that the neutral position sensor was tripped.  Or, it could be out of whack (though probably not)
2) Clutch was engaged unless you had the lever pulled.  If it's in neutral, then the transmission/final drive isn't engaged.  Neutral and a disengaged clutch can have the same function, but are different systems.
3)  Going back to #1, if you were just on the edge of being in a gear when you tried to start it, the selector probably hopped to hwere it should have been (N) from that force.

But.. this might be a good reminder of the start up procedure they taught in my MSF class.  The important parts here being don't start the bike unless you're on it, with the front brake applied. 

[nkryptit]

1)
I had this 'jump' while starting once too, very early in my break in period...But I'm almost at 3k miles now and it hasn't happened since...My first thought was false neutral too, but I think It might have something to do with brand new tight clutch and the sticking plates, because I tried starting it with the clutch pulled in, same thing....But then a started again and it was fine...

And I always use the cold start...if you RTFM you'll see that they suggest it for any day under like 90 F.  If you've had her started in the last hour or two, don't worry about it.  But for instance, I ride to work, then 4-5 hours later take lunch;  I almost always use it in the morning and again at lunch.  It's just the way the bike is designed.

[Mother]

the clutch drag issue has been mentioned

it's a good idea to start the bike while on it and covering the brakes

the wet clutches drag a bit when new

[VeryMetal]

Yep, always use the fast idle lever when starting from cold and keep it on a little bit until your engine is up to temp. Works very much like the old chokes.

+1 for the idle/ choke. Start it (on the bike, like yuu pointed out), get it idling around 2k rpms (this should avoid building up any back pressure and get the flow going) and let it warm up, as it becomes warmer the revs will rise, just nudge it down. I don't always wait till I see a temp reading (comes on at 126f) but I'll still let the bike idle higher at lights and stops etc.. Once you get the temp. you're good to go, close the idle lever and let rip. I've had mine stall on me a few times, these bikes seem to like to run hot.

Secondly, your neutral problem sounds familiar to me, I've had it happen a couple of times to me and I've heard of it happening to other people (never on my duc) on all kinds of bikes. I think you have 2 things going on here: 1) You have a brand spanking NEW bike which requires a break in (not just for the engine but for most moving parts) you'll find things will smooth out once it gets a few more miles on it. 2) The false neutral is a common problem - where the sensor is as far as what stage of the circuit could have an effect on weather the bike starts when the neutral light is on, the bike thinks it's in neutral because the sensor is triggered but really it somehow slipped in to gear, or as was mentioned by yuu already, it was just teetering on the neutral point and the starter force may have kicked it down/ up in to gear.

I've had problematic neutral on a couple of Japanese bikes, literally the thing wouldn't find neutral, it was either first or second, I found If I feathered the clutch a little while shifting for neutral it would go in no problem. Anyways..

This is probably the last thing you want to hear but - It's probably not something to worry about, get out there, enjoy your new beast and put some miles on it. If it keeps happening, that's when you know something isn't right, probably something simple that a tech will pick up on straight away and you'll be covered by warranty - plus, they should be giving you as much attention as you need as a new owner, I would take the bike down there with no warning if you're worried, I'm sure one of the techs will spend a few mins talking with you. Sorry for a long winded response! Congrats on your new bike!