Has anyone cured the slow speed running problem on the V4 Pikes Peak? It’s a stinker of Gorganzolian proportions. Occasionally you have to do 20 or 30mph. It’s no good joking about it, sometimes you just have to for speed limits, sometimes you get stuck behind some halfwit that doesn’t know what an accelerator is for. That fractional change between on the throttle and off the throttle at slow speeds, just trying to maintain a steady low speed is nothing short of bloody awful. Going down a steep twisty, fractionally on and off the throttle, it was a bloody awful bucking bronco. So bad it made me swear out loud and wish I was on my well sorted V twin. Things it obviously needs and I’ll do. 1. Install one of those little red throttle slack eliminators. It’ll obviously help but it won’t cure it. I’ve done it before on other models. 2. Check the chain tension again, which seemed ok. It was a pain in the neck, literally. 3. I’m considering going up 2 teeth on the rear sprocket. I did it on my 1200s DVT and it certainly made low speed running better. Has anyone done this on a V4 Pikes Peak or V4s? 4. Maybe the full system exacerbates the problem. Going down to Urban mode seemed to help a little. As did very, very, gentle throttle movements but sometimes just holding it absolutely steady resulted in that awful jerkiness in the chain tension. Going down to 1st gear didn’t help much in fact probably made it worse. 2nd gear felt like the correct gear but wasn’t great and surprisingly doing ultra low revs in 3rd gear produced the smoothest ride. Probably down hills but the revs were too low and of course not great when you open it up. It really took the fun out of the ride. At faster speeds the bike was much happier and so was I. While we’re on it, other things that are going to have to go are the Diablo Rosso tyres. I’ve had 2 rear wheel slides in 2 rides this week. I don’t know if it was a slight dusting on the road or I suspect the tyres lost a bit of heat at this time of year. Both times were under gentle braking, not pushing things at all, slightly down hill but not much. The 2nd slide was a serious side to side weave out of nowhere. I managed to keep it sunny side up. The washing machine was busy when I got back and twice was enough to convince me they’ve gotta go. Thoughts on tyres please but I don’t think the front is as good as a Dunlop. The seat isn’t great, I still slide forward slightly. It’ll have to be reupholstered, which I’d planned to do anyway and I’ve been busy redesigning. If any one wants to buy a set of heated seats let me know, I’ll never use them. If it’s that cold I’ll go in the car. Come to think of it I couldn’t get the heated grips to turn on. Weird, I pushed the button on the right grip and the dash changed. How the hell do you get ‘to’ the trip meter and then how do you zero it? If all else fails read the manual. Doubtless the cheap chain will have to go pretty quickly as well. The factory set suspension will need proper adjustment. There’s good things about the bike but I can’t help feeling it’s the same old problems whenever you get a Ducati out of the factory. It’s a shame on such an expensive product and good part of the reason it took me so long to take the plunge and buy a V4.
The trip meter is in the lower menu section of the dash. Hold the big button on the left down until you switch from the top menu then quick up or down to rotate to the trip 1 or trip 2, push and hold to zero it and then push again to confirm. I got my seat adapted and reshaped with some memory foam and it’s a big improvement.
Changing the gearing may well mess up the TC system. Seems to be a common theme these days. Plus the bike will probably do about 20mpg.
The slow speed running on my Pikes Peak was perfect, but I did have the full system. The slow speed on my RS was absolutely bloody awful. With all the uncertainty around insurance and full systems, I went for a BHP reflash, which seems to have sorted it. I had to put normal unleaded in once, which brought some issues back, but I’ve since run a few tanks of super through, and all is well again. Are you running the bike on regular or super unleaded?
Good question, it never occurred to me, that might be an issue as I’ve run mine on super from day 1. Andy
On my Multi V4S, I never experienced the sort of slow speed throttle problem that you describe. I did fit a throttle spacer just to take what I felt was excessive slack in the action. I did find that gear changes at low speed / low revs was always clunky. No sure if changing the final drive gearing on the Multi V4 is a good idea - see extract from the owners manual: Attention. Changing the final drive ratio immediately makes the warranty null and void and the motorcycle can not be used on public roads as it no longer corresponds to the type-approved version. Chain tension seems to be critical on the Mult V4. Not sure if the PP has the same length chain as the standard V4 (very long) but at least it should be easier to adjust and the tension correct with the eccentric adjuster on the single sided swing arm. With double side singing arm on the standard V4, getting both the chain tension and wheel (chain / sprocket) alignment is a pain, as is carrying the tools to do the adjustment when on a long tour. Regarding the heated seat, have you checked it's plugged in
Certainly not experienced any slow speed running problem with my 22 PP, either with the full system or without, didnt have the throttle spacer fitted either. Comparing slow speed to the 1260, it is in fact silky smooth and can usually run 1 gear higher at 30mph against the1260. Only ever run 95 octane, unless its the bike's birthday. Tyre wise, I've used Angel GT2'S since their introduction, maybe not the best for longevity, 3-4k miles but always consistent and plenty of grip wet or dry, and seldom any brown pants moments Hope you get it sorted and can start to enjoy the bike, loved mine for 40k + miles.
Thanks. Heated seat was plugged in but I have no need to use it. So I thought I’d sell them both. It’s the heated grips that confused me but I couldn’t look at the switches much as I was going along. As I said, I’ll have to resort to the manual.
My PP 2022 runs fine at 20/30mph. E10 or E5 makes no noticable difference for me. It does require a steady throttle hand at low revs, with loose arms (i.e. elbows not locked, otherwise the bumps from our crap roads can cause jerky behaviour). You don't need to slip the clutch. IMHO it's not an engine that enjoys low revs (compared to several BMW models), but I can ride in 30mph in 3rd or 4th gear smoothly. There's no point whacking the throttle open going from 30mph -> nationals, you have to either accelerate gently or change down a gear. Running in 1st/2nd is fairly pointless in town - I don't need to accelerate/decelerate hard. I find it a pretty inflexible engine below 3k revs, 3-5k is usable but uninspiring, and it's only at 5-6k+ revs that it gets in the swing of things.
Sorry to hear all of the issues you are having with your bike Sam. I am not experiencing any of the negative symptoms you are describing, albeit I have the V4S Full. My previous 1260MTS used to drive me nuts with respect to the throttle mechanism & QS, less so once I fitted the throttle spacer, which improved, but didn't totally stop the throttle bounce. As to direct comparisons with that model and the V4S, I find the V4 vastly smoother and with far wider torque range, making riding it in 2nd & 3rd, very easy & relatively smooth indeed. Slow speed running doesn't give me any issues and the chain, although original with circa 8k miles on it, so far is absolutely OK. When the time comes, at around 12-13k, I will upgrade it to a far better specification, however, in the meantime, it will suit. Good luck with sorting your concerns........
