| Tony understands the issue I have with the 800ss perfectly well but, Mike still doesn't seem to understand it. I'm not really a special case nor am I asking to be made one. As it happens I have two 800ss Dukes. One with a red key and all the instruments (it is new) and one without (a cat C recovered bike). However, I will not use the new bike because I cannot afford to risk trashing the instrument panel on it. This problem would not exist if I could use the FIM ECU because it bypasses the ECU/immobiliser and instrument panel integration.
The problems I and any other Ducati rider face are this (even with the bike with the red key):
1. I cannot replace the instrument panel with something else (like a race tacho) because the bike won't run without the original coded panel.
2. If I break the instrument panel in a crash I cannot ride the bike until a new oem unit is fitted and then re-programmed at a cost of ~£600. This cost is significantly more than an FIM ECU.
Before anyone asks - it is not clear whether or not a used panel could be substituted either. I asked the question of Ducati and they weren't able to confirm one way or another. I've spoken to John Hackett at length on several occasions about this issue and he wasn't sure because at some point in 2003/2004 Ducati changed the way the the immobiliser worked. Earlier bikes did not depend upon the panel to be run but, later bikes do.
It's all academic really - for these two reasons alone I will not be racing an 800ss in Minitwins now. Lest I be accused of attempting blackmail - I want to make it clear that I made this decision purely on the basis of financial common sense.
[Edited on 22-12-2005 by twpd]
[Edited on 22-12-2005 by twpd]  |