Recent tour to the Dolomites went well, 10 days of great biking roads, mountains and passes though France (Calais to Vosges), Germany (Black Forrest to Bavaria), Austria (Tyrol). Italy (Dolomites and Lakes), Switzerland (dipped into Southern parts) and France (Alps and across to Caen Ouistreham). The Pikes Peak did a sterling job as well it should. One exception was that the starter motor seemed to lock solid on the last day in the Dolomites. Click from solenoid, big current draw with voltage dropping to around 8v but nothing in terms of engine turning over, zilch. Bump starting was 'entertaining', necessitating stopping only where there were suitable hills combined with the use of 3rd. sometimes 4th, gear. The ambient temperature was quite high throughout the trip, mid to high 30s daytime peak. The rest of that day it failed to start on the button. But the following morning and thereafter it was reluctant as usual but did start. Faith was a little dented... Of the two others on the trip the BMW S1000RR rider (well he was on an F900 he had to rent in Bavaria... another story ) thought that it was turning over slowly. My other buddy, who rides a 996, just nodded knowingly. The options are as follows: Do nothing; it starts as it's always done. However, the risk of this happening again is something I'd ideally like to avoid. Replace with new OEM; a pricey option, about £530 for the starter motor alone. Replace with a pattern part: about £120. Replace with a used OEM part: £170-£250 All will require quite a bit of work as, by the looks of it, the alternator cover needs to come off. Any experience of this?
Yes! I've probably done the same roads! Your mistake was to go touring with a BMW owner. When the inevitable Ducati Breakdsown occurs, you never get to hear the end of it from the BMW faction! Although, when I went that way, my BMW owning mate tried to make a point about how shit my Monster was, as I always was topping for petrol. To make a point, he didn't fill up when I did. Then we hit German Autobahns and he ran out of petrol. How I laughed!!!
Thanks, I was thinking along those lines. Fit a pattern part and have the OEM one checked out; rewound and/or bearings replaced. That way I'll have it on the shelf waiting for the new one to fail... which will be something of a guarantee that it won't... How define a quality pattern part though? If anyone has fitted one then I'd be interested to hear. It's a common part across quite a few models.
Pretty sure I have a refurbished spare that came off a 1200 Multistrada. I need to find it but I’m sure we can come to an accommodation. Andy
Well, my BMW riding friend goes by the pseudonym of "what could possibly go wrong" so I had something of a head start. He left home the night before the trip to spend it at his girlfriend's place. Enroute to there his brand new pillion seat luggage pack slipped and rubbed on the rear wheel to the extent that it wore through the Cordura, wore a hole in the sole of one of his trainers and shredded a pair of underpants before he was alerted to the issue by another road user... Several disasters later (including him loosing some of his luggage on an enthusiastic stretch of autobahn) we noticed a significant oil leak which was covering one side of his rear tyre... Turns out some of the shredded Cordura had got behind his gearbox sprocket and then into the output shaft oil seal. Hence the F900 he had to hire from the BMW dealer in Bavaria where he left his S1000RR for repair. May mate on his 996 didn't fare much better, he had constant overheating issues. Turns out it was the pressure cap on the coolant reservoir had gone bad. 25 year old bike and no parts available out there. Also seemed that the fan thermo switch was FUBAR as well. We wired in a switch in it's place so he could manually turn the fan on when the temperature gauge showed close to 100ºC. Our trips are embellished with memories like this
Thank you for suggesting/offering Andy. We can maybe discuss; which model 1200 Multi? Likely interchangeable if it's from a DVT. The earlier 1200 DVTs show a different part number but this is superseded by the same one as for the 2019 1260PP. Though I do note that it's also a fit for the Scrambler which I know you have at least one, if not two, in your garage... So, from what you've written can I deduce that you've had this starter motor fail on you? If so what were the symptoms?
Found it, p/n 27040103A and you are correct, fits pre DVT Multistradas according to your link. Apologies for getting it wrong …… again Andy
Thanks Andy. Still possibly compatible as it's superseded by the listed for my PP (27040107A). However, it's four iterations prior to a current one. Also searching under that part number shows starters with a shorter, fatter pinion.
Changed for the 6 month old one from my previous 1260. So only about 18 months old. Yuasa AGM OEM spec. Seems healthy enough.
That's a possibility. However, it went back to relatively normal the next day. It's always been, like my previous 1260, not exactly an enthusiastic starter. Pretty sure that's common across the range.
That looks right. Seeing as it's a superseded part I would expect it to look exactly the same so stands to reason. Will PM you.
We measured voltage and drop on press of the button across the solenoid as well as at the starter motor, it was the same give or take. The fact that it's now, as far as I can tell, starting as it was previously I'm not going to know if it was the motor or the relay until it fails next time. It definitely felt and sounded like the starter motor was locked. £55 for the relay or £180 for the pattern motor with a 1 year warranty. Granted the relay is easier to fit. Maybe it won't fail again... though risking that happening on a tour makes me want to find the issue. I do have an offer of a mint OEM one off of a 1260 for £200 from a breakers, though the pattern one looks like the OEM without the Denso sticker. Makes me suspect that they're both out of the same factory in Thailand.
