Hello all, I have a 2018 desert sled, bought it new in the US , and shipped it to the Caribbean where I live. That's right, no dealership on the island, am on my own. 4,500 miles into it, all going great until one fine day I start the bike, and notice the dashboard was blank. To add to the oddity, the low fuel indicator light, which normally comes on, and stays on, was blinking. Very odd. Bike had plenty of gas too. Once I stopped it, I could not start it again. I could just hear the normal buzzing sound the dashboard does when it is keyed on, but no visuals, and alas, no starting. I fiddled with the fuses. All fine, but because electricity was interrupted, something must have been re-set, and I got it to start. For a brief moment there was a flashing "SW 50" in the dashboard, which had never come on. Bike runs fine, dashboard works fine. But now everytime I stop the bike, I cannot get it to start unless I disconnect and reconnect the battery. Any ideas of what may be going on? A seasoned mechanic with Ducati experience on the island believes it to be a key related issue. But without a Ducati scanner, he cannot pin point the issue. Any troubleshooting leads would be most welcome,
Check out fuses first, then relays before looking at anything complicated. The buzzing is your fuel pump pressurising/priming. An intact fuse is not necessarily transmitting current properly because it has to make a good contact in the fuseholder. If that contact is compromised, the fuse will not carry the current across the contacts even if it is in apparently perfect condition. Checking the fuse will have cleaned the contacts slightly, so could well explain why the bike appeared to ‘reset’ itself. I recommend you slide all of the fuses in and out of the holder several times and also apply contact cleaner if you have some. This could well provide a cure on its own. The other thing to do is check there is no twist in the fuses, so they are perfectly flat in order to maximise contact area. Any twist in the fuse blades will reduce the contact area between fuse and fuseholder enormously. The next thing to try is replacing your relays. Just take them to a car parts supplier and and ask for replacements. They should have them. Fingers crossed for you