UKRR,
just had a look at the manual. Starting is detailed on page 47 but there is no mention of 'servo' assited starting.

what year and model is your bike?

I noticed mine doing that but I thought it was a sticking button until about a week ago when I saw it mentioned here. I've only had the bike 18 months though .....

:o

My 04 S bought 2 weeks ago is exactly the same as yours, brought it home then went to start it one week later ( no alarm fitted just the Ducati immobiliser) and it struggled to turn engine over. despite a decent run out that day and the voltage showing 14.6 when engine was running it still struggled the morning after as well. Its now on an optimate which shows green fully charged and I'll found out later this week if it'll start properly. if not I'll be asking for a battery change at first service.

I have a 999S on order to replace my virtually trouble free and brilliant 03 749. (my past ownership of Sebrings, Dianas, ss200s and Pantahs tells you what I think of Ducatis) After reading some of the posts about coils etc I hope I am doing the right thing! My dealer specifically recommended against fitting an alarm due to the sort of trouble some of you appear to be having.

There was a mod recommended for 900SS, Pantah etc to prevent batteries dying when left(no optimates then!), simply add a toggle on/off switch that ensures the battery is completely disconnected. Although with fancy electronics and gizmos these days it may not be such a smart move?

No alarm on mine (yet) and the battery is useless...

Saying that there's a quick shifter and PCIII running off it

Well, it took about 10 gos to get it started last night. Hitting starter button it does not run on, as soon as I release button the starter disengages. One thing which is weird is the speed of tick over when it does start on the choke, it pulls a load of throttle cable through and when you release choke it still runs at about 6000 RPM for a good few seconds even with choke off and throttle shut. I've owned a few italian bikes, ducatis laverdas etc and never had one like this. Ducati leeds will have a long list by the time I eventually get it in for its first service.

It's NOT a choke. It's a "fast idle" lever and should be used with caution (if at all). I only use it cranked open a tiny bit and then only once the engine is started to get it to warm up at about 1400 rpm witohut stalling.

It takes about 90 seconds (they reckon) to get oil up and around the rear cylinder starting from cold, so to start and rev to 6000 rpm is not going to do it much good at all.

My 03 749s did not have the "starting management" feature when I bought it. I'm sure of it. I had a Termi system fitted back end of last year and I noticed since then that it dosee this. Obviously the new ECU they fitted has this feature. Unfortunately I identified it as a faulty starter button until about a fortnight ago when I started to read about the "feature" on here. I guess it would have been nice to have been warned, as I was worried that it might do damage with the starter sticking on!

[Edited on 13-4-2005 by HW]

It certainly is a fast idle lever :) Bike won't start without this being used, tried with no lever, a small amount out but it only fires with it right open then screams for a few seconds until i manage to shut it down , i had to hit kil switch first time it happened, now i back choke lever off as soon as it fires. If i was closer to Ducati leeds it would be back with them to sort.

When I bought a 2nd had ST2 a few years a go it was like that. The guy even demonstrated starting it like that. When it went into the dealer for a service they set it up properly though. It really is important to start on low revs though so you'd be advised to get that sorted if you can.