[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]

Thoughts

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]

screws

...
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]

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?".
http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=73496&highlight=vibration

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

 

[Shift-Tech]

Did you ever check the motor mount bolts? In the past some have been loose and that gave a vibration while ridding.

 

[dukepilot]

Did you ever check the motor mount bolts? In the past some have been loose and that gave a vibration while ridding.

+1, check the easy stuff first before you go nuts with the more complicated stuff. Also double check the things on the bike that you've touched to make sure they are done right. Make sure your spark plug boots are firmly seated on each plug.

 

[dhc8guru]

I had a similar problem with my Duc when the dealer left a sparkplug wire off when they fixed an oil leak. After I picked the bike up, it was spitting, stalling and vibrated around the 4500 rpm range. I found the wire off once i got home put it back on and all was good. Obviously, you would have found something as obvious as a wire off the plug but how about the wire falling off the coil, a bad sparkplug wire or maybe a coil that has failed. Has someone checked for all four sparkplugs firing?

 

[johnchypermotard]

Did you ever check the motor mount bolts? In the past some have been loose and that gave a vibration while ridding.

+ eleventy billion ... and would suggest you get the nichols engine mount kit installed on your hypertard.

did this on my hypertard and noticed the bike feels tighter and more secure in turns, as the frame does not flex as much as the stock motor mount bolts allow.

 

[reynolds_brad]

So I rode Don's Hyper during lunch and I have to say there is definitely something up with it. I felt a good strong buzz on the foot pegs which i don't feel on my hyper, and it runs a good solid 30+ degrees hotter then mine.

Personally I cant see what could be causing the issue but if it were my bike I would be concerned as well.

 

[johnchypermotard]

So I rode Don's Hyper during lunch and I have to say there is definitely something up with it. I felt a good strong buzz on the foot pegs which i don't feel on my hyper, and it runs a good solid 30+ degrees hotter then mine.

Personally I cant see what could be causing the issue but if it were my bike I would be concerned as well.

not trying to diagnose the issue via the intraweb (hold the bike closer to the video camera, please ) ... but how many miles are on don's hypertard? i know my hypertard ran hotter and had minor vibrations when i was breaking it in ... but has since not had any issues with running hot and the vibration also ceased (even before i installed the nichols engine bolt kit).

 

[reynolds_brad]

not trying to diagnose the issue via the intraweb (hold the bike closer to the video camera, please ) ... but how many miles are on don's hypertard? i know my hypertard ran hotter and had minor vibrations when i was breaking it in ... but has since not had any issues with running hot and the vibration also ceased (even before i installed the nichols engine bolt kit).

Don will have to chime in on that one, not sure how many miles he has on it. The bike did look brand spanking new other then the tires.

 

[hyperdookie]

I would pull all the spark plugs and look for discrepancies.It sounds like it may be a vacuum leak as mentioned by dave2riff. The easiest way to track down a vacuum leak is with a smoke machine.Just plug into the ports where the charcoal canister is/was hooked up and fill er' up with smoke.If there's a leak you'll see it. If you don't have access to one, you can stop by my shop and we'll hook you up.But first I would look at the plugs (and remember which one went where).

 

[johnchypermotard]

I would pull all the spark plugs and look for discrepancies.It sounds like it may be a vacuum leak as mentioned by dave2riff. The easiest way to track down a vacuum leak is with a smoke machine.Just plug into the ports where the charcoal canister is/was hooked up and fill er' up with smoke.If there's a leak you'll see it. If you don't have access to one, you can stop by my shop and we'll hook you up.But first I would look at the plugs (and remember which one went where).

dude ... you have a smoke machine? cool. can we come over and smoke a bowl full?

 

[hyperd1]

Hey guys,

A huge thanks to Brad. His hyper runs butter smooth.

The bike has 1,850 miles on it. I took it for another cruise tonight trying to piece together information that will help diagnose the problem.

It definitely runs better before it's up to temperature. Less than 210, it runs okay. 220 to 245 is where it runs most of the time. It's 62 degrees and cruising at 45 on a flat road, it was running 224 degrees.

It really sucks at low rpm. In neutral, when I try to hold the throttle steady at 2000 rpm, the speed will vary +- 300 rpm. It behaves like there is a vacuum leak. There is also an occasional little pop in the exhaust. Not sure if it's a lean pop but you can tell by the sound of the exhaust that both cylinders are not making equal contributions.

If the dealer can't fix this, watch for a screaming deal on an 09 Hyper. I am kicking myself for not taking this bike for a test ride before buying it.

Don