HI am new here so please be nice ;-) Got a 748 for my sins. Bought it blind and it was delivered yesterday. TBH, beautiful bike, wonderful condition for its 15 years!! Was delivered, rolled out the van and wouldnt start!!! Battery I assumed as I know the bike hasnt been ridden in a while..... put it on charge, the charger showed later all good, fired it up but nothing........ click click click Back on charge as wasnt on long, couple of hours later, back in the garage and away she goes!!! sounds lovely and all good. Just to be sure, I left her on charge overnight Went out this morning, charged fully, off charge, go to start her and nothing...... Driving me mad now!!! Is like it wants to start but wont turn fully and makes this clicking noise (trying to upload brief video but dont know how!!!!) Please please offer some advice as am about to sell again already as dont need hassle from a bike as I need something reliable for the rare times I ride! Cheers all!
Sounds like battery to me, mine have never been right once gone and always needed replacing. Can you hear the fuel pumps prime when you turn the ignition on? When you say "not ridden in a while", how long are we talking? I'm sure the clever people will be along soon to help out.
that's a good question, will go and have a look shortly and let you know. If you ping me your email I can send you the very short video I made (badly) showing the noise when trying to start it
so. I think the bike was SORNED in Feb this year as I believe the previous owner passed away. When I switch it on and pull in the side stand I can hear a noise and then when I try to start I get this reaction described
Sounds like battery to me as well. It's worth checking the battery earth connection, give it a clean. This stuff can easily be checked with a multmeter. A 15yr old Ducati that hasn't been rode in a while is probably not the one if you are getting frustrated by a flat battery!!
thanks for your optimism on my relationship with ducati ;-) Is just frustrating as only received the bike yesterday and it is immaculate but as a non starter quite annoying as it was sold to me as top quality. Will solve it I am sure. Will be more than happy if just a flat battery tbh! Will buy a new one off ebay now, cant hurt to have one and they are not ridiculously expensive either
It sounds promising that it will be that as it worked when you charged it. They're great bikes so it'll be worth a bit of faffing around in the end and at least you'll get to know the bike a little in the process.
problem is it only started once since arriving and I have had it on charge all this time - that is what worries me most. As I said, if the battery is just not holding its charge and the one start was just lucky then fine, new battery it is, just concerned it is something more and expensive!
afraid not, no biker friends yet as just moved here. Just went and tried again - still the same issue - the noise I described is coming from the right hand side of the bike if that helps in analyzing
not sure if I am allowed to do this here BUT this is the battery I was thinking of buying Ducati 748 E 2000 CT12B-4 CT12B-BS Motobatt Motorcycle Battery Upgrade | eBay or does anybody have any other suggestions (want a sealed one)
Generally consensus of opinion is Yuasa are the best bet. My 996 I bought in Nov went wrong twice in first 4 rides. Mainly due to a lack of TLC and being sat about. A bit of fiddling over winter and some more regular riding and she has been a lot better. These bikes like to be used, not sat around.
check the fuse for the alternator... It's a big 20 Amp I think. Sits by the right of the battery as I recall; not in the small fuse tray. You can get spares from Halfords Might be the battery not holding charge or the bike not re-charging. I had a similar thing with my 748 a long while ago and it was the fuse. Haynes manual has a good guid to find fault with volt meter
solenoid? Could be sticky if not been used. Turn the ignition on then short the two big terminals on the solenoid with a big mofo screwdriver. If it turns over there's your answer
A battery can show it's fully charged but will not have sufficient amps to turn the engine over fast enough to start it, if at all in some cases. Buy a Yuasa battery as from experience these stand up to being left for a week or two or longer if you don't have a big drain on it like an alarm. A good sturdy battery. Cheaper batteries like Dynavolt can die even when left on a battery keeper as they are poor in complarison. It's possible your single start might have just caught the engine at the right point of the stroke to turn it over. Charging it might have just killed the battery completely, especially if it is a poor quality one. Once they start to fade then it's time to buy another. If your fuel pump is not priming then if it is an earlier model check under the seat for the pump fuse to see if it's blown. I have had a bike start up and rev and then die due to a fuse melting, when I checked it was a cheap rubbishy thing that couldn't take the current despite being the correct amp rating, so use a decent quality fuse, not a pound shop one!!!! Also check the ignition switch connection between the frame and the headstock on the offside behind the radiator it could be a bad connection, in which case it won't start or just cut out as soon as you switch on and subject it to load. See how you get on.
It's well worth trying the battery connections. If the connections are loose and/or corrosion is present, the solenoid will click and make the connection to the starter but the sudden extra draw will then cause the battery connection to fail. Classic scenario is for the lights on the dash to go off at the same time. Another strong possibility is that you have a corroded and sticky relay, which is just like a miniature solenoid and has moving parts. If the battery has the power to operate the solenoid but not turn the motor over, you should hear some signs of it struggling, it shouldn't just appear to be dead. If a new battery is needed, I recommend the Yuasa, they just work. Also, get a high capacity starting circuit kit, these things transform the starting performance of Ducatis. You used to have to ge these from the U.S. at great expense but @Exige on here is developing UK made kits as we speak.
