Electrical system overhaul = huge improvement in starting and low end response - Ducati.ms

protokultur · Jul 24th, 2011, 11:13 pm

I did all three of these this weekend:

Shorai LFX battery lfx18a1-bs12
Motolectric HiCAP wire leads replacement kit
NGK Iridium IX DCPR8EIX stock gap 0.65-0.75 mm

No way to separate each one on its own, but huge improvement in starting, post-start response, and low end response... I have the Nichols flywheel which makes cold starting a little more work than normal, you usually have to hold the throttle at 2000 rpms for around a minute before idle is smooth. Also my battery may have been a bit weak so it was going at least 5 turnovers to light up the engine. Bike is now starting on 1-2 turnovers and holds smoother idle after 15-20 seconds.

Low speed rolling stop and starting from a roll in 2nd or 3rd is now a lot smoother... Hard to quantify but I would say that smoothness sets in 500rpm lower than before. Makes a big difference here in the city.

All together this is about $300 in parts and a few hours of install time.

ohayo · Jul 25th, 2011, 3:52 am

I have the Motolectric HiCAP wire leads replacement kit but havent had the time to fix up yet.

Is it difficult to install??

protokultur · Jul 25th, 2011, 3:07 pm

You can do it in an hour or less I think. Don't get hasty with the wire clippers is my advice.

The directions are pretty sparse, here's what I got from them:

Motolectric Install Guides

Basically I just pulled the three wires off the bike and replaced them with the hicap wires one by one. The two running down the trellis front are hardest to route in there, and the hicap wire thickness is larger than stock by a few mm. This interferes with the pre-made routing path for the wires along the gas tank and beneath the front left tank fairing, but with zip ties everything fit OK.

All of my connections were very clean (new battery going in at the same time) so I didn't polish the contacts or use dielectric grease. If/when I want to do that, I'll go back and use the grease.

Drinky · Jul 25th, 2011, 4:40 pm

$125 for some wires

?

You can get that stuff at a DIY shop for $30 or less. It is on my to-do list, my bike also has trouble starting.

Abarth · Jul 25th, 2011, 5:40 pm

$75,-
starting upgrade for Ducati motorcycles

I'm still considering this upgrade. I don't have any issues with the bike starting, but I think that is because it is always on a tender. And I do agree it's is pricey for a few cables. But then it al should fit really well. Quality has a price.

And if you didn't notice it already, every upgrade/mod for the Hyper is twice the price.

Drinky · Jul 25th, 2011, 6:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abarth

$75,-
starting upgrade for Ducati motorcycles

I'm still considering this upgrade. I don't have any issues with the bike starting, but I think that is because it is always on a tender. And I do agree it's is pricey for a few cables. But then it al should fit really well. Quality has a price.

And if you didn't notice it already, every upgrade/mod for the Hyper is twice the price.

But that's a general rule of thumb for any Ducati

HYPERR · Jul 25th, 2011, 6:52 pm

I installed the Motolectric cables on my 900SS along with a new starter and the bike now starts instantly. The stock Ducati cables are of such poor quality to start with, and the 15 year old cables on the 900SS had deteriorated to the point where it would get smokin' hot (and literally smoke) from the resistance. It was a ritual trying to start the bike before and it could never be trusted to go on a trip but now it's actually fun to hit the start button as it fires instantly.

As for the Hyper, yes it always cranked slow...but it always starts. It would be nice to have the fast crank and the instantaneous start that my 15 year old 900SS has but I think I'm going to leave it alone for now as it really isn't enough of a problem to "correct" right now. Maybe in the future as the POS Ducati cables deteriorate from age...

Mr Mike · Jul 25th, 2011, 7:40 pm

Looks like a good thing to do.
I just ordered mine. $75.00

protokultur · Jul 25th, 2011, 9:39 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drinky

$125 for some wires

?

You can get that stuff at a DIY shop for $30 or less. It is on my to-do list, my bike also has trouble starting.

Eh the kit is $75 and the saved time it would have taken to make the wires the right length and heat shrunk connectors, zipties, etc. is probably more than worth the $40 difference... To me at least.

Drinky · Jul 26th, 2011, 4:48 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by protokultur

Eh the kit is $75 and the saved time it would have taken to make the wires the right length and heat shrunk connectors, zipties, etc. is probably more than worth the $40 difference... To me at least.

I only looked on ebay and saw a higcap kit for 120 gbp, figured that would relate to something like $125 in the states.

Cutting the wires to the correct length and heatshrinking doesn't cost a lot of time, and I have a box with 1000 zipties for $7. But I'm more a DIY kind of guy. To each his own