Black Forest...black Batteries...black Mood!

Saturday I headed off on the 1198, destination Black Forest in Germany.

The trip from Warwickshire to Essex On friday evening was a joy, perfect 20 degreee weather and the bike was a dream despite 50l of kriega strapped to it.

After a night wat my friends house, An early morning Euro tunnel on Saturday passed without drama and after a short stop in Dunkirk it was a motorway blast to Aachen for the first hotel.

Sunday morning I meet up with a few friends who live locally and we have a superb 50 mile chase through the Eiffel mountains heading toward the Nurburgring.

As I round a corner and get on the gas, the bike stutters and pops. I assume a backfire but glance down and my electrics are dead, clutch in I’m coasting in search of a safe stop in the wilderness.

This is where the smoke appears, plumes of white smoke, coming from under the fuel tank, I’m immediately thinking coolant but my nose is saying worse.

At the side of the road I’m watching in horror as the smoke worsens, it’s passeneger side, behind the fairing. My friends have split, two in the distance and a slower group a good ten minutes behind.

Luckily a bmw driver stops (lots of exotic cars using these roads) and offers me both water and a tool kit. I pull the fairing panel off in blind panic and find my smouldering lithium ion battery, it’s acrid, it’s molten and I pull that thing out as quick as my now burnt fingertips allow.

The bikes ok, the wiring looks ok, thank my lucky stars.

I now phone axa (who were fantastic, best 27 quid I ever spent on European breakdown) they arrange a recovery truck and a hotel in nearby Adenau. It’s unscheduled but they find a Ducati dealer in the town, the bike will be dropped at the dealer 8am Monday morning and repaired.

My group splits, half contine with the planned routes and booked hotels and two people stay with me until we hear more on the diagnosis.

Monday morning, 9am, I’m at the dealer in Adenau. It’s closed. 9.30, still closed.

10am, one guy turns up and unlocks the doors, he explains it’s a German holiday, he’s only hear to do paperwork, he will close at 1pm but I explain my situation and he offers some hope, he has a new battery but no regulators.

What’s more, where’s my bike?

The recovery company are holding it, in on the phone now, pleading with them to deliver the bike to Ducati dealer before 12. If he closes and goes home at 1, he won’t open again until Thursday.

11.30, the bike arrives, the battery is fitted, it starts, it runs, it charges. Back in business, 150 euros lighter.

My friends and I grab our belongings from the hotel and head for the Nurburgring for a brief respite. And then it’s back to slogging through miles to get to freudenstadt and reunite with the rest of the group.

Motorway closures, roadworks, concerns over the bike and 32 degree heat make this as miserable as it could get, but 8pm Monday evening we roll into the hotel.


Beers, hugs & piss taking commences. It could have been worse.

Tuesday morning, up early, stop for breakfast, ready for a trip to the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart. We roll into the fuel station to top up and my indicators are dead, my headlights dead, here we go again. Check the volts on the dash, 12, 14, 15, hi, batt error 5.1

If I wasn’t for the fact I was in the fuel station, I’d have considered burning it.

Back to the hotel for me, I can only assume the reg is dead. Few phone calls and I send my mates on a visit to Ducati Stuttgart to get a new reg after their museum tour. In the mean time I sit in a cafe in freudenstadt writing this.

I’ll update later, and add pics when I’m home (if I get home) but so far this is proving the most testing bike tour I’ve ever been on. And it’s supposed to be a holiday .

 

The Ducati tech who fitted the new battery, and one of the electrician friends I came away with, both said lithium can take max 14.4 volts or it degrades. The Ducati system can put out 14.5/.6

Ducati tech also said (in your best German accent please) ‘I have heard about this, I have read about this, until now have never seen this. I have lithium battery on my bike, and when I get home, I will take it off’

I didn’t fit the battery, it went on 18 months ago shortly before I bought the bike, I did add a set of exige cables though (which look unmarked despite the thermal incident)

Actually with the standard battery fitted yb12 I think, the bike was starting far easier than with the lithium. It’s noticeably slower cranking, but seems to ‘catch’ sooner.

 

I think the who dunnit about wether battery killed regulator or reg killed battery will rage on but I sure hope so. The B500 is planned for tomorrow

 

I can only relay the story but wether people choose lithium or standard is down to their own preference.

Up until now Iv preached about them, it’s lightweight, charges quick, needed near no maintenance , never left me stranded etc.

But I think general consensus is they are less tolerant of voltage range than a traditional battery.

Brand new bikes with charging systems to suit obviously don’t have any issues.