Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Beat those iffy electrics

[crm250]

After the spain / france breakdown saga on the old 1995 916, we are discussing about doing spain again in may. anyway it was sugested that i should think about buying a reliable bike if coming next year, ie "you would have a better chance of making it on the RGV250" so this got me thinking they are right, the 916 is an electrical timebomb waiting to go off - so today i thought i would defuse this bomb

So what better way to spend a rainy saturday afternoon than stripping the majority of the loom out to inspect and clean.
I picked on the back end first then worked round to the front end and separated all the connectors, cleaned them up, used a brass brush to clean up all the pins, and a bit of contact cleaner before a light smear of vaseline on those exposed connectors to aid waterproofing.
Fusebox was pretty well spot on, as was all the the loom, i think i found the reason my tachometer was sitting around 4,000 rpm at times and the temp would be a bit eratic and i suspect it was the fact one of the multiplugs in the headlamp bowl was looking a bit green and furry.
Overall the loom and connectors were in very good shape, not brittle or bodged however the charging side was not quite a good.
Yet again (and after only about 500 miles) the gene wires (pair of yellows running over the motor between the barrels) were already looking and feeling a bit crispy after a brand new gene and rectifier, also the rectifier short loom again looking a bit crispy.
Now with the poor fit of the connectors it doesnt take much to work out that current over a poor fitting connector will generate lots of heat hence why the failures at alarming intervals. So i went to ducati mcr who had one is stock (bargain £27) tweaked and soldered the new loom to incorporate extra cabling to spread the load, and clean tight connectors.
Also ran a couple of extra earths, one from the rectifier to the battery, and another from the battery to the frame.
So maybe i will chance it again on the old 916 to spain, but if it fails one more it wont be coming back with me.
Now all i have to do is find whats vibrating when i have a pillion perched on the back