only Italiens could be this barmy ...ducati stikes again....

[monsterman]

Ha....Ok we all know the fiendish Italien Machiavellian temprement often gets to the folks at Ducati,here is a cautionary tale of dark deeds in Bologna ..........

well today I delved into my S4 wiring to put an aftermarket CA cycle left hand bar lighting switch so I would be able to turn the headlights off and not have them permanently on.
It mainly helps the battery amps on starting not having the headlight on.

OK a simple job for an electonics wizard like me who works on robotics etc ......well yes and NOoooooooooooooooo....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the curse of Bolongna strikes , I have 3 wiring diagrams for the 2001 S4 and all are different especially the color codes..WHY for Gods sake do they do that... OK back to basics my bikes wiring colours do not relate to any of the 3 Ducati wiring diagrams all dated 2001 so I get ot my multimeter and spend 2 hour buzzing the whole thing out and making my own diagram and the mounting the new switch. ''DOH''

all is well the bike runs great but why do Ducati do these mad things .

Jerry

 

[feejer]

Frustrating I know. But certainly not isolated to Ducati. As you know, bill of materials changes during production runs is a fact of life due to supplier or quality issues. My K1200LTC happened to be right in the middle of a factory wide ECU swap during its build. Found out because an aftermarket ECU chip that was supposed to work for my year bike didnt work. Tracked it down that my 2000 bike had a 2001 ECU/tune. Fun trying to get the chip returned after it had been installed, but finally was able to. Would have been a $500 paperweight otherwise.

 

[Azoulay]

Hi Jerry,

That's Italy, my friend....A bit of fantasy, but I doubt it's too fare from LOL !!!

Tell me if you are around near to the 20th in Cha Am area.

 

[monsterman]

My genuine Ducati workshop manual has 2 different wiring colour coded diagrams
an update issued Feb 2002 by ducati has a yet again different colour code ,

and my bike matches none of these even though the wiring is completely Ducati origonal.

Amazing eh!

Lucky i am an electronics technician.. now i have my own nice wiring diagram.

 

[Pikey]

monsterman wrote:
It mainly helps the battery amps on starting not having the headlight on.

Jerry

Hi Jerry, I have a little trouble understanding this as the previous owner of a couple of 4 valve Ducatis. If the battery and regulator/rectifier unit are in top shape (not easy on the earlier 916s!) then starting on the button with the lights on should not be a problem - now bump starting a big duke on your own, that's a different kettle of bananas!

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[Azoulay]

Hi Friends,

I think I understand what Jerry is describing, on each of my bikes (including the Ducati Monster) I installed a small headlight on/off switch which avoid the lamp "to pump" the battery when the contact is on the ease a good start of the engine and to concentrate battery power on the engine starter. I done it, very simple and it works for a 100 TBH cost (...per bikes !!!)

 

[monsterman]

Thats it , it takes some of the strain off the Ducati system , also I am relocating the regulator to the cool air at the front of the bike .. it is presently sited behind the rear cylinder under the seat so gets red hot.

 

[Rustic Charm]

monsterman wrote: all is well the bike runs great but why do Ducati do these mad things .

Jerry

It's up there with Bologna's "Let's use a special paint on the '07 S2R engine so when it heats up, it allows all the road grime to stick to it and then when it cools down, the grime is embedded into the paint itself." :wink:

Ducati makes life so much more 'interesting' than if owning a Jap bike. :wink:

Those bloody It-aliens!

But then again, they've also given us Monica Bellucci.

 

[KZ]

The old K100s had the headlight come on automatically after the engine had started. Also if the fuel pump was dead, the bike wouldn't even crank.
So much for german wiring in the early eighties...

 

[roaddhist]

Hi monsterman,
You've already solved your problem so all of this is a moot point. In the automotive world when you turn the ignition key to the start position all accessory power is shut off so that 100% of the battery power can be used for starting. Since motorcycle batteries tend to be small and you have a large displacement engine in your bike the battery is taxed to it's limit in start mode and any other drain on the system-like 50, 60 or more watts for the headlight-can hamper starting. An on-off switch in the headlight power supply circuit is certainly the simplest way to remove the headlight battery drain during starting but if you wanted to get a bit fancier you could install a normally closed relay instead of the switch that automatically opens the headlight power supply circuit when you power the relay from the start button. Once the engine is started the headlight comes back on without any manual intervention. This is a change on the agenda for my much more modest Phantom since I've increased the displacement on the engine and upgraded to an H4 headlight from that stupid 30 watt parking light that it came with. Anyway, as they say, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just adding my 2 satangs worth. Michael

 

[roaddhist]

Hi Capt'n
Khun Fah on Chiangmai Land road did the upgrade and tells me it's now about 233cc. He charged me 6000 baht total. I didn't notice much improvement in performance at first but after the 500km oil change and valve adjustment it definitely runs stronger. It took 6000km for the original engine to break in so I suspect the improvement in performance will be ongoing for some time (I only have about 1000km on it since the upgrade). The H4 hasn't had any negative effect on the starting or charging systems to date other than dimming down at idle and the bike is 3 years old with the original battery which is due for replacement when the starter starts "dragging"-probably sooner than later. As a side note, I also had Fah preload the front springs about an inch and add heavier oil to stiffen up the front end with really excellent result. Hope this helps, Michael.