Just venting my frustration with people who'll understand; nothing much informative in here. Last week, my dealer informed me that my 1200 DVT had arrived, and just needed to be prepped. Should be ready for Thursday, only two weeks later than the 3-week ETA. Conveniently, Thursday is late-night-shopping day in the Netherlands, so I was all set to go straight there after work. Wrapped our helmets in towels and then stuffed them into sturdy shopping bags (the practical approach when you're going via tram), both my partner and I wore our biking jackets and boots to work, and we're all set to meet at a train-station between our respective work-places and be there by 7. At 4:30 I get a phone call. All the hardware is installed (touring and enduro kits), they were doing the firmware upgrades via DDS, something went wrong, and now the bike won't recognise the key. "That's workable," says I. "It'll start with a PIN." "Yes," says he, "but it won't key-off. There's an update from Ducati, and our technician is waiting for them to get back to him now. If we get it fixed in the next hour, I'll call you." So now I'm hoping I at least get to pick it up tomorrow - first thing Saturday morning, which is arguably a smarter time than Thursday night anyway. Three years without a bike, then this. So. Damn. Close. To misquote the Penguin, I think the word I'm looking for is... Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!
My workmates think so, too. They're watching me claw at my desk in frustration, and observing that "dealers" are called that for a reason.
Sounds more like dealer failure. There could be various reasons like the radio transponder failure. Battery etc. The most important thing is whether the RFID in the 2 keys work with the keyless ignition. So if they could get it to start by placing the keys over the dash, then its not too bad. My 2013 key had bad battery contacts. Probably due to environmental contamination. Failed after 4 months, which is unusual as the battery life was good for at least 2 years on the 2010. Changed the batt, still failed. Cleaned the contacts and its been fine till I changed it few weeks ago. If at least the red key works, its more likely the switch-blade key being the problem (dealer got confused?). Not a big deal, Ducati can send you a new one and should not take more than a week. You don't even need to bring the bike to your dealer to get it done. My dealer quoted me £80. (not that you should pay for it, but just an idea of the price). If neither key works, then the problem might be the ignition module itself or the factory's records are wrong. More troublesome. I suspect its the former.
From what little the dealer told me, the keys were working until they applied the firmware update, and now the key-on/off functionality is b0rked regardless of whether you use the keys or the PIN. It's fresh from the factory, so could be infant mortality of one of the components or, as you say, dealer failure. They're a long-established Ducati/Guzzi specialist with a good reputation, so the latter would surprise me. I'm guessing the ignition module. I'm technical enough to understand and discuss the issue if I pushed past the salesguy and got their techie to describe it to me in enough detail, but am making myself stay at a distance and leave them to fix it. Their problem to fix within their domain, and inserting myself into the loop is only going to slow things down. I might just ask for details when I finally pick it up, though. On one hand, it's really not helping me like this newfangled keyless system any better; on the other, as somebody else pointed out, it's just one more computerised system among the distributed network of them already in place.
Getting flashbacks! My DVT had faulty handsfree system. They had to replace the whole unit. Good luck.
Interesting that it happened after firmware upgrade. I'll find out if mine had one applied. My BT module doesn't work for playing media. Ducati HQ are scratching their heads. I suspect the module being the problem. Will try on my dealer's demo bike.
Not all that "newfangled", since keyless has been in use since 2010 in Ducatis, and in cars many years before that. Now the DVT system is rather more newfangled - let's see how reliable it turns out to be.
I was being facetious, and aiming that at myself. Despite having a long career in IT, I'm on the trailing edge when it comes to adopting new tech in my personal life. I learned to ride back in the early '90s, and leaned to maintain that 1987-vintage bike (GF250) while I was at it, so I'm instinctively nervous around stuff I can't disassemble and work on myself.
By the sound of what my dealer just said, it was DDS itself that needed updating, which sounds kind of odd, since I know they've already sold one of these. In any case, it's fixed, and I get to pick up La Duchessa tomorrow. I shall report back... later
Apparently it _was_ DDS that needed updating, before they could fix whatever it was on the bike. *shrugs* I elected not to push the subject, partly because I immediately produced a warranty claim before even starting the engine up. Yes, the pannier mount broke; this time, it was the forward of the upper two mounts on the left-hand side. Credit to Motortoer: their response was so low-key that I thought they'd misunderstood what I was saying. No, they simply took it in stride, and it'll be fixed when I go back in for the first service. The important thing is that in two afternoons, we've put 516Km on the odometer, visited Belgium, watched hawks hovering in the wind beside the dike that keeps the sea out of Amsterdam, and discovered what an incredible, rocket-powered machine the Multistrada really is. And that's while keeping it (almost entirely) below 6000RPM! I can't wait to find out what happens in the top part of the range, though I'd probably best be solo when I do that. My partner wanted me to book in for the first service when we picked it up, but I didn't want to overestimate just how quickly we'd re-adapt to life in the saddle. I've bought a new bike and immediately ridden long distances before, but never felt this good afterwards. Totally worth the money!
