09 Hyper vibrates a lot at 4500 rpm

[hyperd1]

This is weird. My Hyper is not running well. At 4500 rpm, the motor vibrates a lot. Other odd symptoms include intermittent hesitation when coming off the line and surging at low rpm, 1700-3000. The best way to describe the surging is this. If I am in second gear at a slow steady cruise, the bike almost sounds like it has a fouled plug. Imagine one cylinder firing consistently and the other firing intermittently. Basically runs like crap. Unless I am above 3K rpm in first, I have to feather the clutch because of the surging. The oil temp seems to have increased. Last night, cruising in San Jose, CA on the freeway, the oil temp was 230. It was cool, 64 degrees and I was running on a flat section of freeway approximately 65 mph. Typically, the bike would run 205 to 217.

When I first took delivery of the bike, it ran very hot, 250-280 constantly. Nichols Engineering found that the themistor plug was not connected properly and that brought the temperature down and resolved the CEL issue. The dealer told me not to worry unless the bike indicated "HI" on the display. Before that, I opted to replace the mid pipe thinking the heat source might have been the catalytic converter. That did help and gave me 3 hp according to the dyno. Also, in an effort to help cool the motor and richen the mixture in closed loop mode, I added the Fatduc. The Fatduc helped a ton. I also replaced the front sprocket with a 14 tooth hoping to raise low speed rpm making the bike easier to roll out of low speed corners.

Throwing money at a new $15K bike to make it run decent is getting old. Any of you Hyper owners had similar symptoms? Overall, I love riding the bike but hate this newly developed vibration, low speed surging and hesitation. It's not fun to ride like this. Could the problem be a flaky ECU? Can they be tested?

Thanks

[Revelstoker]

When it comes to modern motors with their increased use of electronics, I have to wonder if you would be experiencing the same issues if you had installed the Ducati TERMI exhaust system?

Since you cut out the cat and didn't change the ECU, I have a feeling that all the sensors and fuel injection is screwed.

Not an expert but if I was you, I might invest in the Termi 2-1 exhaust and ECU, have a dealer install it and they have them dyno tune the bike to check the mapping.

[hyperd1]

Thanks for the response. I am second guessing all the minor modifications I have made. The frustration is that I would have been perfectly happy with the bike stock if the heating issue had not appeared. I may put the cat back, remove the Fatduc and take it back to the dealer.

Compounding my frustration are a couple other minor details. One, the carbon fork guards are a different pattern. One is the 08 pattern the other is 09. Also, the hand guards with integrated turn signals almost vibrated off. All of the screws vibrated out. And then having the thermistor wire not plugged on properly causing CEL and erroneous temperature readings.

Sorry for the rant. Just expected more from Ducati.

[Revelstoker]

Originally Posted by hyperd1

...
Compounding my frustration are a couple other minor details. One, the carbon fork guards are a different pattern. One is the 08 pattern the other is 09. Also, the hand guards with integrated turn signals almost vibrated off. All of the screws vibrated out. And then having the thermistor wire not plugged on properly causing CEL and erroneous temperature readings.

Sorry for the rant. Just expected more from Ducati.

My screws fell out as well and I was able to replace them with a trip to Lowes. I put a little locktight on them but wasn't too worried as I was planning to purchase the bar mount mirror/signals as the bar end ones are useless.

Watch the kickstand as a few people have reported it loosening.

I still am in the camp of thinking your mods are messing with the way your bike is running. I guess there is some Flapper valve in the pipes that needs to come out as well. There is a link on this issue in the forums and I remember the Flapper discussion coming up when I had my Termi installed.

[johnchypermotard]

Originally Posted by hyperd1

Thanks for the response. I am second guessing all the minor modifications I have made. The frustration is that I would have been perfectly happy with the bike stock if the heating issue had not appeared. I may put the cat back, remove the Fatduc and take it back to the dealer.

Compounding my frustration are a couple other minor details. One, the carbon fork guards are a different pattern. One is the 08 pattern the other is 09. Also, the hand guards with integrated turn signals almost vibrated off. All of the screws vibrated out. And then having the thermistor wire not plugged on properly causing CEL and erroneous temperature readings.

Sorry for the rant. Just expected more from Ducati.

i saw your black hypertard @ nichols a few weeks back ... your comment about the miss-matched carbon fiber fork guards was the tip-off.

if josh and mike @ nichols can't get your hypertard working correctly, i don't know who can.

best of luck and hope you get it all sorted out.

btw, there should be 4 or 5 hypertards @ ducati bike night next monday, @ pizza antica in santana row. if you don't have your hypertard sorted out by then, stop by and chat with these other owners ... perhaps they have suggestions.

[dave2riff]

Another Hyper owner on this forum reported the same kind of problem about
a month ago "Vibration at 4,500 - Possible Causes?".
Vibration at 4,500 - Possible Causes?

It does seem interesting that it's occuring in the transition area between the
closed- and open-loop modes of the EFI. I agree with John, have it looked at
by Nichols. Keep in mind with a twin any imbalance in the cylinders due to
timing (valve or spark) or fuel delivery or throttle plate imbalance can upset
the smoothness of the engine. The surging at low rpm sounds like a serious
leanness in the fueling. This can sometimes be caused by an intake vacuum
leak (bad gasket, loose hose or clamp, etc). You could also temporarily
unclip and bypass the FatDuc module and see if something there didn't go bad.

One request I would like to make is for weird problems like this, it would be great
to hear back from you guys when a solution is found. Please post it back here
so that maybe it will help someone else with a similar issue in the future.

[hyperd1]

Nichols has been exceptional. They are only two miles from my house and have always gone the extra mile. I was there earlier this morning to discuss the issue. I am going to adjust the Fatduc to richen the mixture and see if that helps.

Thanks for all the replies guys!

[CodeRed]

I have an '09 that vibrates but not like you are describing. I am have the DP ecu installed today with the zard collectors..I will let you know if the vibrations diminish after that change. GL.

[hyperd1]

I am very curious to hear how the mods affect the vibration.

Thanks,

Don

[Karlr]

Seems like you have messed up your bike by mods...put it back to standard and take it back to the dealer..pronto if still under warranty..then start again