Dead Diavel.

This all reminds me of a time I was travelling on the A1 on the 999 and got caught in the worst downpour I'd seen in years. After stopping for fuel, I discovered everything had died - no lights, no display screen nothing. Completely dead.

As luck would have it, the rain and the clouds all melted away and after about an hour of hot sunshine, the bike mysteriously resurrected itself and I was able to continue.

Another time, in France, the 999 died in a rain shower. I discovered that the speedo stopped working when the bike was eventually fired up but thankfully the satnav gave me me speed so I didn't fall foul of Les Gendarmes. I think it was the next day when the speedo came back to life.
 
Gimlet said:
Trouble with mine is at the moment it's shutting everything down without warning while it's running so I can't risk riding it. I don't want to be barrelling into a turn and suddenly engine and all electrics just switch off.
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For 140 plus vat it might be worth just doing it, the bigger question is if that new switchgear is an improved version of the old dodgy one or is it the same shit part?
Wouldn’t hold my breath considering the fuel tank joke which they never solved….
 
Think I've confirmed the problem. Disconnected the little cable to the right hand switch block, blew out everything with an airline, blasted with contact cleaner and blew out again. Clean. Squirted the block with water dispersant, blew out and applied the contact cleaner again. That made everything worse. Right hand backlights still on when ignition off, woke up and fired just fine but engine died within seconds rather t6han the few minutes before. The more I tried the quicker it died.
Took off side panel and checked the battery. Dusty in there but no corrosion and terminals greased. Tested the battery and it was tip-top. Resting voltage 12.8-12.9v. Cranking voltage a very robust 10.8v. Nothing wrong with that. And I set the meter range to 20v so it should have been pretty accurate.
Then I noticed that after turning off the ignition at the main switch it was turning itself back on again by itself. Pulled the little block connector out of the right hand switch block and it stopped doing that. It's definitely the right hand handlebar switch block. Will ring around for best price, including @Nelly and get one bought and fitted.

Lesson: right hand switch blocks on canbus Ducatis, including the very latest V4 Multis, Panis, Diavels and SFs are VERY sensitive to water damage. Wet it, you fuck it. So don't.
Interestingly, Stu at Ducati Sunderland today said that most of the stack of shagged RH switch blocks he had on his bench were from V4 Multis. That makes sense, as out of all the V4s the Multis are the most likely to be ridden in the rain or get dirty and have a blasting from a hosepipe or pressure washer.
 
Gimlet said:
Think I've confirmed the problem. Disconnected the little cable to the right hand switch block, blew out everything with an airline, blasted with contact cleaner and blew out again. Clean. Squirted the block with water dispersant, blew out and applied the contact cleaner again. That made everything worse. Right hand backlights still on when ignition off, woke up and fired just fine but engine died within seconds rather t6han the few minutes before. The more I tried the quicker it died.
Took off side panel and checked the battery. Dusty in there but no corrosion and terminals greased. Tested the battery and it was tip-top. Resting voltage 12.8-12.9v. Cranking voltage a very robust 10.8v. Nothing wrong with that. And I set the meter range to 20v so it should have been pretty accurate.
Then I noticed that after turning off the ignition at the main switch it was turning itself back on again by itself. Pulled the little block connector out of the right hand switch block and it stopped doing that. It's definitely the right hand handlebar switch block. Will ring around for best price, including @Nelly and get one bought and fitted.

Lesson: right hand switch blocks on canbus Ducatis, including the very latest V4 Multis, Panis, Diavels and SFs are VERY sensitive to water damage. Wet it, you fuck it. So don't.
Interestingly, Stu at Ducati Sunderland today said that most of the stack of shagged RH switch blocks he had on his bench were from V4 Multis. That makes sense, as out of all the V4s the Multis are the most likely to be ridden in the rain or get dirty and have a blasting from a hosepipe or pressure washer.
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Are you keeping it now then Jim?
 
You could always get those gloves for people with fat hands :D

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Robarano said:
Are you keeping it now then Jim?
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I'll see how it goes. If the only issue is that dodgy switch block and it's common across the Ducati range - and nothing else happens - I can live with it.
The clincher will be when I get the Streetfighter back on the road and see which one I want to ride most. Though even with leaky switchgear the Diavel is probably going to be less maintenance-heavy...
 
Barry Hell said:
Zip tie a tesco bag over yours, it'll be grand 👍
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I used to do that with the instrument panel on my 990 KTM. They were very prone to leaking and fogging.

TBH I was more concerned that it was something in the battery compartment that had got water damaged as that would really make the whole bike aqua-phobic, and if I daren't wash the thing or get caught out in the rain there really would be no point. If it's just the switch clusters (and probably the instrument panel to be on the safe side) they're easy enough to protect. The switch blocks and levers get plastered in shit loads of bugs but they come off well enough with some GT85 on a cloth.
 
West Cork Paul said:
Im just catching up, I’m glad you sorted it.
Stu at Ducati Sunderland is sound, he was on our WDW24 trip 👍🏼.
It’s also useful to know the RHS switchgear is suspect.
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Yes he's a top bloke. Took half an hour at least out of a no doubt very busy day to talk through the symptoms and explain the switch block issues and source the part on line. He had his own very clean 748 R in the workshop, a 2000 model very pretty in yellow with a groovy white stripe down the middle.
He said he loves the lack of hassle from having an analogue non-canbus bike that has carbs. It tells you something when even the factory mechanics who know the latest bikes insides out think all the electrickery is a PITA.

New switch block ordered today. No point ringing round for prices. They are what they are. Should arrive by Wednesday. Then I'll have the fun of trying to fit it in my dingy unit with my knackered eyes that can't see close up.
 
By the way, does anyone know what the large block connector is for?
Nothing it can connect to as far as I can see. It was just lying there in the bottom of the belly pan. I assume it's some sort of auxilary lead for connecting accessory catalogue farkles.
I don't like the idea of an uncapped connector just lying there. I think I'll clean it and tape it up.
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Does yours have an aftermarket exhaust on it and if so has one of the lambda sensors been blanked off or could it be if you have an aftermarket exhaust, could it be a lambda sensor eliminator?
 
Noobie said:
I hope it's now resolved/getting resolved as I was getting worried for you.

At times it was like watching Perry. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT, grr the fucking thing is useless grr grr , okay I might keep it now

🤭
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TBH the bikes I've got aren't the frustration, it's where I've got them. I can't house them at home so they're in a secure container a couple of miles away. It's dry, insulated and about as secure as it can be with cameras, dogs and people on-site day and night.
But there's little room nor the light you need to work on them in the container and no clean concrete surface outside plus feckin chickens under your feet all the time which get into the container if the doors are left open. That makes washing difficult as well, which is maybe why I was careless with the hosepipe.

I used to have a double garage to myself with a clean concrete floor and lots of space and light. I just can't see well enough up close when I'm in a confined space lying on my back with my face pressed up against what I'm trying to work on. If I had the space and a bike ramp I could manage easily. I hadn't appreciated until I couldn't do it anymore just how big a factor in the satisfaction from owning bikes is being able to properly do my own maintenance. I was absolutely meticulous with my KTM which is why it's still corrosion-free and has been utterly reliable for 60,000 miles and probably the best bike I've ever owned.
There's so much I want to do on my bikes but I just can't unless I can find somewhere better to keep them. And that's proved very hard to come by. It took me four years to find the container I've got now. And it costs me £120 a month. I will admit it gets me down. And probably why I've done so much Perry-esque chopping and changing of the past three years or so. If I can't work on them and look after them as I want to I don't bond with them so well.
 
The chicken thing is an easy fix. Make two cheap pine square frames to meet halfway across the inside of the container by the chicken door opening to waist high then cover in chicken wire. This will give you protection from chickens, daylight to work on them (the bikes, not the chickens) and ventilation as you can leave the doors open
 
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Gimlet said:
By the way, does anyone know what the large block connector is for?
Nothing it can connect to as far as I can see. It was just lying there in the bottom of the belly pan. I assume it's some sort of auxilary lead for connecting accessory catalogue farkles.
I don't like the idea of an uncapped connector just lying there. I think I'll clean it and tape it up.
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It looks like it’s capped off already.
 
West Cork Paul said:
It looks like it’s capped off already.
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Looking at it again it appears to have an exhaust valve by-pass module plugged into it, presumably part of the Termi fitting kit to prevent error codes, so yes it is effectively capped off. Might tape it up and tie it up somewhere with a cable tie.

New switch block arrived at the dealer today. Not bad as I only ordered it on Friday. Price was as advertised on Ducati UK parts website. No dealer surcharge added: £143.03

Had a look round the dealership at other bikes. It seems every big Ducati these days, V4s, V2s and 1260 Diavels and Multis that have the back-lit pcb switch gear are fitted with the same units. Some have additional functions depending on the model but the basic design is common to all. Therefore any Duc model that has the red back-lit switches will be vulnerable to water ingress. It seems to be the right hand one that is the problem as that houses the kill switch. I suspect it's the pcb that gets scrambled if it gets wet.

Will try and get it fitted tomorrow, clean the battery compartment and refit the side panel and hopefully that will cure it. Fingers crossed.
 
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Haven't got round to fitting the new block yet. Tomorrow or Saturday. I went to put the bike on charge forgetting that the charger wasn't reading the battery through the charging lead. As the side panel was off anyway I connected the charger direct to the terminals with the crocodile lead. It worked and charged as normal.

Why the knackered kill switch cluster should stop the charger from reading the battery properly when connect via the charging lead, I don't know. But it does. I hope it doesn't mean something else is fried.
 
Outintheopen said:
Glad the bike starts, now about these chickens..,
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Doesn't start yet. or at least doesn't run for long. Hopefully the switch block will cure that.
The chickens can fuck off. I hoyed a tool at one the other week and bust its bones and its leg was stuck out at 45 degrees. Didn't feel good about doing that but I'm at the end of my tether. Looking for somewhere else to keep the bikes that's affordable. If I can find anything I'll up sticks and leave.
 
All done and appears to be back to normal. Removing hands free/kill switch block is a piece of cake. No special tools required, just a long thin allen key.

Tried taking the old block apart to see what's in there. Got the two halves split but there a tiny screw to release the inner workings which I can't get to with the jeweller's screwdrivers that I've got. But it looks like there is absolutely zero in the way of sealing or water proofing. Seems crazy to me that you'd put delicate pcbs in upward facing motorcycle switchgear without out any kind of protection to keep them dry.
I'm glad mine isn't a tourer that gets ridden in all weathers otherwise I'd be riding with my heart in my mouth waiting for the bike to die every time I got caught in the rain.
 
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