DD bike doesn\'t start
 

New exhaust fitted, yesterday I wanted to start the bike just to hear how good it would sound...

The bike hasn't started during the winter, so I bought an Optimate 3 to try and get the battery fit.

But even with that, the bike doesn't want to start... When I press the "start" button, I can hear the engine doing 1 rev and stopping, just like if the battery wasn't strong enough, even if yesterday the Optimate was was saying "good" regarding the battery health...

So the optimate is still on the bike, will give it another try tonight. Any idea? Does it mean I have to buy a new battery?

Can you turn the engine over by hand? and you mucked with the belts?

get a pair of jump leads on there from another battery you know is good.

Some people argue a car battery is too much, but it would at least tell you if the bike is OK.

After recent comments and events I suspect Scottish sabotage :D

I haven't done anything to the belts. Didn't think about the car battery, will give it a try :)

Does sound as if the battery is at fault. Optimate may give it the volts it needs but its the amps across the battery that give the Ummmph to start it. 4D

:lol:
If my bike breaks down ONLY every 7 years, I'm quite happy with that... :D

Had the same on my bike toni meter said battery was perfect so I took the battery to ducati wolverhamton he tested it & said was perfect I was not convinced & persuieded him to try it on another bike it wouldnt start that, fitted a new battery BINGO all was fine. Optimates can KILL.

:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

Yup i agree with that..i have never used one...and i stpre the 748R for 5 months over Chrimbo......i just start it every 2 weeks or so ..let it warm right up ...it occasionaly if really cold needs 30 minutes on a charger but other than that fine..............

Optimates dont kill....poor connections do..................................

[Edited on 8-2-2006 by fil2]

Can we have some more technical proof please?

My 996 SPS, when not in use for the smartarses out there :P, was always connected to an Optimate. I never had any problems in the 2 years 2 months I had it.

I swapped over the battery connections for the same unit when I got my 999R in September '03 and have used the same unit since. This bike was not used from early October last year until two weeks ago and started first time.

Staring and idling bikes without subsequent hard usage is not a good idea. If you are storing the bike for long periods in cold weather the recommended approach is to drain petrol and oil, discoonect battery and attach to trckle charger and when you come to restart, refil, prime and start.

[Edited on 8-2-2006 by everton]

An optimate (or similar) is utterly dependant on the quality of its connection to the battery. A poor connection will give poor charging.
For example - The first series had small un-pluggable connectors which caused a small voltage drop as the charging current passed through them, and hence gave the optimate a false measure of the batteries real voltage.
Similarly, using corroded connectors can give poor charging.
Additionally, I dont think they compensate for temperature, and a batteries performance is very temperature-dependant - warming a dodgy battery up will often get it working enough to get you going.
This allone often explains the difference in people's experiences, as some of us have warmer garages than others :saint:

In summary - if you have poor connections between a trickle-charger and the battery - you can end up with an under-performing battery.
(There, I think that was pc enough to stop me being sued :P )

Antoine, Alan say just give him a call on the mobile if you want him to pop over at the w/end sometime to help out

C:)

post edited to correct my inaccurate statement

Optimate dont kill poor connections do...........................

im a numpty..i just ride them.................................

:cool:

No Tonio, Optimates kill batteries - not French men









(they're still working on that) :lol:

Right, tonight I tried again.

Even when I use the battery from my road bike, the DD bike won't start (actually the road bike won't start neither but at least the battery is strong enough to make the engine reving...).

So when I use that battery on the race bike, same thing: I can hear the sound of the stuff which should start the engine but only for half a rev or something like this... then nothing happens. And if I push the red button again then still nothing happens. I must then put the main switch (which replaces the key) in "OFF" position and then back "ON" to try and get my half rev...

:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

PUTAIN DE SALOPERIE DE BECANE DE MERDE QUI FAIT CHIER SA RACE!!!!!!!!!!


ok I feel better. But I still don't know what to do. I forgot to mention that to save some weight I got rid of most of the wirings which I thought were useless. So actually I've removed (ahem... cut) everything going to and coming from the dashboard.

Any idea?

Try putting all the wires back one at a time until it starts, then you'll know which one you shouldn't have cut out :lol:

did you really have to reply to that post mate?????

:lol:

Did you cut the really big important wire?

Sounds like the main ignition relay to me tonio, Mine did the same after beinjg on its side at donnington, There are t relays fitted if i remember correctly, Mine was yellow and i took it to a local motor factors and got a replacement for a fiver, Problem solved.
Ir is a common fault so well worth a check.
Glyn

It still sounds to me like there is not enough current to turn the engine over.

Jump start it off your car Tonio - if that doesn't work then start looking at your wiring.

No no. Actually I only cut thin wires. And before doing so I checked where the wire was going to and coming from. I don't think I've done any mistake on that point, I may have but once again I don't think so...

I think the relay is working fine as I can hear it doing "clac" when I turn my ignition switch to ON/OFF... But I'll have a look at that if the battery is not the cause...

Yep, that's the only thing I can do for the moment. Tonight I'll take the battery off the car and will try like this. Will let you know what it does...

Cheers guys.

Hi Tonio, :eureka: ???????

going back to 'basics', have you moved or changed or taken off the main earth lead (the bigger black one), from engine to frame or frame to battery?

Mark (AntonyE's pit bitch)

Tonio, if you cant get it sorted by Saturday, why not pop it onto a trailer & bring to the agm with you (I think you said you were going?).
There will be a lot of ducati "mechanics" there to help you.........

C:)

Hi mate,
No problem there, I checked the earth lead in both places (frame <-> battery and frame <->engine).
Cheers
Tonio

That's an idea :)
May do that if I couldn't sort myself out before. That could be fun... A bottle of Muscat de Rivesaltes for the first one to find what's wrong with it :lol:

He's another guess.

Does the engine 'spin' over with the sparkplugs removed?

If you have a 'leaky' float valve in the carbs, and you left the fuel tap on, you could possibly have filled the vertical cylinder with fuel.
Hence only turning over once.

Like I said just a guess?

Check the connections on the start solinoid aren't touching against the cylinder head.
If all OK there get a set of jump leads run one from the -Ve of the battery to s good engine earth, I find exhaust studs work well.
Then with the other jump lead connected to the battery +Ve prod the other end on to the starter motor connection, if you still only get half a turn I would suspect the starter motor but could also be a problem with the engine

Not at all...

Update: Even with the car battery the bike won't start
:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

It seems something is telling to the starter engine to stop starting the bike after a very short time. Does it ring a bell?

Where is the starter motor connection?

HMM, I would still swap the relays over, As you said about yours clicking, mine were too, but that may not mean that it is switching the main properly.
Just a thought tho, Stick it in gear and see if it turns over??
Glyn

Tonio its under the starter motor, A rubber boot usually full of rust, you cant miss it.
Glyn

ok, I'm off to the garage again...

your webcam link doesnt work i was going to watch you **** about LOL

I turned it off when I started feeling ridiculous :lol:

I've done what Skid suggested, the problem doesn't come from the starter motor, it works fine when directly connected to the battery.

I've done what you suggested, it doesn't come from the relay, I tested it on my road bike and it works fine (I mean the yellow one which is underneath the seat. btw is there another relay I could check?)

Any idea? :(

Starter solenoid ???
next place to start.

what's that? :lol:

let's see if I can find it...