[jdurward]

My SFS always sounds like its on its last breath when starting. The battery is fully charged but it always makes me think its not going to start - then it does. Do they all do this? Or do I have a bad starter motor. What say?

 

[flynbulldog]

All Ducatis start like that - nature of the beast

 

[blawrence]

yea,, mine sounds like the battery is about to die,, and I am scared I would not be able to crank the bike twice if I needed it.. LUCKILY I haven't needed to.

my old M750 was like that,, then after I changed the motor out for an 800 it still did it.. then I changed the battery for a sealed variety that didn't leak battery acid all over the frame and motor (be thankful the SFS doesn't have that old battery) ,, and then the motor cranked over like ,, well like it had a new battery all the time. It was great

 

[blackie]

Sounds like its got asthma until you give it an inhaler

 

[Gilly]

My monster s2r1k always start like that when it's cold: bumpity, bumpity, bumpity, bumpity, bumpity chug vroom.

After it's warm you can probably bump start it with a nudge, Chug-vroom.

When it's too hot after sitting in the sun after a run, it suffers from some sort of vapor lock??? bumpity x 15

The SF cranks over fairly confidently... chug-ita, chug-ita chug-ita vrooom.

 

[wannabefast]

I was told they do this because Ducati uses very low weight fly wheels which makes perfect sense to me. Mine does it too and when I turn it off the engine stops turning very quickly which is consistent with the small fly wheel theory.

 

[Sito]

After a week of not starting and no battery tender, it takes 2 tries to start it. Starts very fast when hot.

I've been wondering the same thing.

 

[uthatch]

Yeah, mine turns over slowly..but it's normal. All the Duc's seem to do this.

You should my 1098R...whew, that beauty sounds like it's just about to die and then it pops to life. Literally a pop too...got a love it!

 

[zach34]

I was told they do this because Ducati uses very low weight fly wheels which makes perfect sense to me. Mine does it too and when I turn it off the engine stops turning very quickly which is consistent with the small fly wheel theory.

That makes no sense to me, and I would love to call the bluff of whoever told you that. The flywheel, even a heavy one, is only going to be a fraction of the entire rotating mass in the engine. Furthermore, the engine is probably turning too slow during starter motoring for the flywheel to develop any significant inertia anyway. The primary resistance force for any piston-engine starter to overcome is the compression stroke. Try removing your spark plugs and cranking the engine as an experiment and you'll see what I mean.

I figure it's gotta be an underpowered battery or underpowered starter motor. Maybe I'll get around to jumping it off of a car battery this weekend to find out.

 

[TallyRex]

My SF also doesn't start like a Jap bike, although it always starts within a few seconds. More confusing is the following. Battery full charged, I go for a spirited ride with the tach rarely below 5 grand, bring it back home and hook up the battery tender and the green light will flash for 6 hours, which means it is charging. I can't understand why it would need to be charged.

So, I take it to the dealer and he calls up Battery Tender and the dude says that's normal. When the green flashes that means the battery is at least 80% charged and the charging rate automatically reduces as the battery gets closer to 100% charged. Well, that makes sense, except when I do the same with my ZRX, the light only flashes for 20 minutes.

 

[flyinlow1]

Glad I found this before I asked the question. This is my first Ducati but from friends that have them I knew they didn't crank over very fast. But mine seems like it really struggles to start but looking at the comments above, looks like its normal.

Maybe we should add this to the FAQ's?

 

[achung123]

Maybe we should add this to the FAQ's?

This should belong "Ducati ownership 101" LOL

Seriously, all Duc are like that - close loop newer bike is better. For the bike with open race system is the worst. My 06' Sport 1000 with full exhaust system usually take 6 starter run (on a single press in cold morning) before fire up with a little help of throttle input. And I have to hold the throttle at 3K RPM for about a minute or so to make sure she will stay alive. But once the engine warmed up, she just fire right away!