Ducati electrical help

[MattR302]

As a follow-up to my “WTB wicked fun streetbike” thread, I broke my own rule about only buying Japanese vehicles, and a 2008 Hypermotard 1100S followed me home a couple weeks ago.

Backstory: Seller bought this new as his first street bike, he had a MX background. He never really got into street riding (only ~7500 miles total) and hadn’t ridden it in the past few years. He did start it every year and kept fresh gas/oil in it. I talked with him for a while, I knew it needed some work (new battery, tires, 7500 mile valves/belts, minor cosmetics, etc), and our agreed upon price reflected that.

Drove a few hours to upstate NY, was raining pretty good once I got there. Seller jump started it off his car, runs for a couple minutes, starts/idles/revs good. Turn it off, disconnect the jumper cables, bolt the seat back on, give it a lookover – condition as expected. Load it onto my open trailer in the rain, load up the spare parts, he signs the title/BOS, bring it home.

Few days later, got the new battery in, started up fine.
But the dash isn’t working – nothing on the display, only the backlight flashing on and off.
Headlight works, tail/brake lights work, horn works, turn signals don’t.
To be completely honest, I don’t remember noticing the dash working or not working when it was running at the seller’s house. (I talked to the seller, he remembers the dash working a couple months ago when he started it up.)

All fuses are good.
Checked the battery voltage while idling = 12.6V. Hmm.
Checked the stator, it’s shorted to ground, not good.
Looks like it needs a new stator, will probably replace R/R with a MOSFET while I’m at it.

In terms of what’s up with the dash, and whether fixing the charging system will fix it, I’m not sure.
At first I thought it might be a connector got wet towing it home in the rain. But the connectors on this bike seem pretty good quality and weatherproof.

But then with the stator putting AC voltage to ground, could that have fried something?
Found one guy with a Hyper 1100 who had a dash flashing like this and he needed to replace the ECU, but his bike also wouldn’t start (and mine does).
Another guy with a Streetfigher with a flashing dash and no start, needed to replace the dash.

Any input? Thanks!

[whynot]

Hi Matt, great bike [thumbsup] -- I really enjoyed my Hyper 796 for 9 years.

I know that my first gen Multistrada (2006) carried the ECU in the dash and running in the rain could effect it, temporarily if not permanently. Happened to a friend, never happened to me, I carried a plastic bag to cover it. Or use a shower cap. I felt that my Hyper had a lot of exposed wiring and connections compared to other bikes.

I guess you are posting on ducati.ms? I always got good response and info there.

My go-to guy for service, Eric Colbath in Moultonborough NH
http://www.clubhousemotorsports.com/

(Also, there are many electrical spots that can keep the Duc from starting. The most obvious one IME is the power cable where it attaches to the front of the starter motor. It sticks out there and catches everything. A frequent service item -- clean the contact surfaces, pack the boot with dielectric grease. Repeat often and right after running in the rain.)

If it wuz me, I'd be opening and cleaning out every connector on the bike, at least with WD40, preferable with DeoxIt.

Also, on older bikes, I like to find and clean all grounding points down to the metal, and create a single point ground that ties to the battery NEG.

Also, on my Multistrada, I added an ground cable-strap (6 ga.) directly from the battery NEG to the starter housing, like under a mounting bolt, rather than relying on the frame to complete the circuit.

In other words, I like to do all the basics when I get a bike.

I wonder if jump starting a bike from a car can do any damage ...

2 cents, obviously, but that's all I know. Not scientific or even scientistic for that matter. HTH etc.

[number9]

I would try www.ducatiforum.co.uk as there are some real experts there, especially when it comes to electronics (as a lot of them do immobilizer removals and other stuff).

Like you, I have a 2008 1100S so if you need me to test anything "Hey what happens when you do x..." let me know. I also have a spare, stock ECU in a box not being used that you're welcome to borrow.

[MattR302]

This weekend I’m going to clean all the connections with contact cleaner. New reg/rect is on order.

Apparently Ducati used 3 different model stators, each a slightly different size, when they built this generation. So I need to remove the old one, measure it, order the right one, then wait for the new one to arrive before I can install it.
I’ve read that weird voltages can do weird things to Ducs, so I’m going to wait until I get the charging system up to par before doing any additional troubleshooting.

I’ve poked around a bit on Ducati.ms and Ducati.org. I’m registered on .ms but haven’t posted yet, .org hasn’t had much activity lately. The UK forum does seem very active though, thanks for the link.

Thanks for the offer #9, I’ll most likely be hitting you up to ask annoying questions
I can’t wait to finally put some miles on this.

Also, anyone have a Ducati rear stand or stator cover puller kicking around they’d like to unload?

[MattR302]

Finally found some time and motivation to work on this the past couple weeks.

Noticed a parasitic draw on the battery. Found that it was tied to fuse #6, which is the instrument panel. Makes sense, since my dash is doing this (not my video - my dash is doing the same, but my bike will still start/run)

Stator was shorted to ground. Removed the old one, got a new one on order from Rick's. Old stator is definitely NFG.
New MOSFET style R/R is already on hand. Going to need a little creativity to mount it.


So it will have a new battery, stator, and R/R. So once those are installed, I will start troubleshooting the dash/drain issue.
Still need to clean all the connections and grounds.

Came across these guys, going to keep them in mind if I cant sort out the dash myself, looks like they may be able to repair it https://www.carmousa.com/

[Stoneman]

I wonder if jump starting a bike from a car can do any damage ...

I had unfavorable results doing that with my wife's ATV years ago. My truck wasn't running when I did it, but it absolutely obliterated the battery and cooked the starter solenoid and starter on the wheeler. Once it started turning over, it wouldn't stop turning over! I unhooked everything, hit the kill switch, removed the key and pushed the still turning over wheeler onto the lawn away from vehicles & the house. Then from a distance I watched the battery take on an absurd shape as smoke streamed from the starter solenoid.

[ZX-12R]

I wonder if jump starting a bike from a car can do any damage...

It can, and it has everything to do with differences in their charging systems.

Cars have an alternator that uses a field winding to generate the magnetic field required to make electricity. The car's regulator controls the output of the alternator by adjusting the field winding input depending on the demands of the car.

Most motorcycles have an alternator that uses a permanent magnet rotor which spins around a 3 phase stator. The power out of the alternator varies depending on the speed of the engine. This unregulated voltage passes through your rectifier/regulator and any voltage higher than around 14 and change volts is dissipated as heat inside the R/R. The alternator and R/R are designed so that the max output of the alternator will not damage the R/R.

If you connect a running car to a motorcycle's battery and the car's nominal voltage regulation point is higher than the motorcycle's, the car will increase its output in an attempt to make the voltages match. The car is capable of outputting significantly more power than the motorcycle R/R is designed to handle so it will heat up rapidly and burn out. It doesn't always happen, but the possibility is there.

If you have to jump a bike from a car, leave the car shut off and you won't run into this problem.

[Stoneman]

If you have to jump a bike from a car, leave the car shut off and you won't run into this problem.

I had unfavorable results doing that with my wife's ATV years ago. My truck wasn't running when I did it, but it absolutely obliterated the battery and cooked the starter solenoid and starter on the wheeler. Once it started turning over, it wouldn't stop turning over! I unhooked everything, hit the kill switch, removed the key and pushed the still turning over wheeler onto the lawn away from vehicles & the house. Then from a distance I watched the battery take on an absurd shape as smoke streamed from the starter solenoid.

Unless it's an Arctic Cat 250 ATV!

[ZX-12R]

Unless it's an Arctic Cat 250 ATV!

Sounds like a hoot! I'd wager there were some other problems with that battery prior to jumping!

[Stoneman]

Sounds like a hoot! I'd wager there were some other problems with that battery prior to jumping!

It was just dead. A couple of our A/C wheelers were known to go through batteries and I pushed this one well beyond that point. A new battery, solenoid & starter fixed it right up. I now have battery cut-off switches on those particular wheelers.

[MattR302]

So can I use the “report post” function on posts that have nothing to do with Ducati electrical help?

[Stoneman]

So can I use the “report post” function on posts that have nothing to do with Ducati electrical help?

Touche!