Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Its broken down again!

[Billythekid]

I think my bike doesnt like trackdays! It decides to wrap its tits in as a protest every time I think!

Anyway, riding along on the road today, rev counter starts bouncing between the real revs and zero for about 10 secs, it then splutters and eventually stalls.

Wouldnt restart, wouldnt even turn over, starter sollenoid just clicks.

However it restarts fine with my mates car and jump leads though. But as soon as you remove the leads it does the the same thing in the same sequence.

Any thoughts welcome please!

My thinking is either Battery or regulator rectifier (thought it does have the later black finned one).

Also, pulling the brake lever with it idling causes the rev counter reading to rise a bit but the actual revs dont!!

Please Help, Joel

[Edited on 7-4-2004 by Billythekid]

[marksduc748]

is it a new battery? the battery would be my first choice, cant you borrow one fully charged and see if it still does it? another thing is how old is the bike?

I had something simular and cut out when pressed the brake and turned out the battery was that flat it wouldnt light the brake light which coursed it to stop. stuck a battery on it and its been ok since "touch wood"

[MARTIN H]

Had just the same thing with 996s. It was the battery in my case.

[Billythekid]

Its the battery that came with the bike when I bought it about 4months ago.

Its a '95 748 bp.

And I live in the sticks in Devon, dont know of another duc for many a mile!!!

Cheers for the replies though, will take a trip to civilisation tomorrow to try and get one!

Joel

[Marty916]

Have your battery load tested. If it checks out ok, it's probably your voltage regulator. If you can get the bike started, put a voltmeter across the battery terminals. At about 2500-3000 rpm you should be seeing 13.5-14.5 volts. Above or below that range points to a bad regulator.

[Clippy]

I've just had a similar experience - the rev counter jumping up and down - but only when I had the indicators on. Then no juice when I came to restart, just the solenoid clicking.

Turned out to be the regulator/rectifier and therefore no charge going to the battery - as the battery ran low the voltage drop was causing the rev counter to wave in time with the indicators.

New Reg/Rec is about £85 from a Ducati dealer - less from a non-franchise supplier (they're in the free Busters glossy in MCN this week for under £60 I think).

Giles

[skidlids]

Originally posted by weeksy
there's a Reg/rec in the for sale section. dual phase.

Steve,
dual phase, thats a new one on me, usually either single phase or three phase.

[Billythekid]

Ok fitted both brand new reg rectifier and battery today, took it out, 20 miles away from home it did it again, same symptoms!

WTF can it be?!

Im really loosing patience with the whole unreliability issue now

Joel

[marksduc748]

well thats a strange one! you need to put a voltage tester on it and see if it is charging when the bike is running and go from there.

[Shazaam!]

An erratic tach usually indicates a bad battery. Same behavior with a new battery suggests a poor earth connection to the frame.