Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > HELP please! Poorly bike.

[remfanuk]

my 1999 748bp appears to be running on one cylinder only...i ascertain this by the fact that the exhaust pipes from the front cylinder are cold while the rear ones are red hot. any ideas?

i have had a recent problem with it in as much as the revs were dropping too low when coming up to roundabouts etc. spoke to someone who suggested turning the throttle lock screw to raise the idle to where it should be...it was 200 - 300 rpm too low. have done that and at a standstill idled fine.

took it out and immediatedly i felt like i was pulling off in third gear...i wasnt! no pick up, no power unless clutch slipped...so when i got back i checked the exhaust pipes as described above. throttle lock screw should not have caused single cylinder running should it?

HT lead is in correctly...i havent taken spark plug out as yet. your thoughts/suggestions/spot on problem solving urgently required please. many thanks.

[rockhopper]

Check for sparks on both cylinders is the first thing to do. Next thing to do is check that both cam belts are still in one piece. Then if still no go it might be an idea to get it Neil at Cornerspeed.

[doogalman]

May just be a duff spark-plug. I've had a plug give up before.

[djb]

Had very similar prob - check for spark, maybe fuel filter but in my case throttle needed balanced (apparently??). Have you put termis on as I had but without new eprom and this seemed to be the problem. Dropped in new chip and went like stink.

D

[remfanuk]

no, havent gone down the route of changing pipes or nothing. could be a duff plug...will have to have a look.

Rockhopper...why check belts? if belts had gone would that not be more catastrophic than it running like a single...or even running at all?

my guess is spark plug or what would appear to be a not uncommon occurence of ignition coil failure...anyone agree? is it gonna be safe to ride...ie...not do any more damage by riding it a few miles to get it to be repaired? thanks.

[rockhopper]

Well while you have the tank off checking the plugs its easy to whip a cover off and just have a look at the belts.
They will run quite happily with one belt gone, but you often get a strong smell of petrol as well.
Eliminate the easy things to check first!

[doogalman]

Swop yhe plugs around and see if the other exhaust then runs cold.

[moto748]

I've had similar probs ad my bike and it turned out to be the throttle position sensor.

Could be lots of things, though, as folk have said.

[remfanuk]

was a duff plug after all!!!!!!!! :-)

[doogalman]

Glad it was just a plug. They do give up sometimes. Nice not to pay a garage to suss it out.