Hi All,
I wanted to share my experience with the "Christmas Tree Dash". In August 2022, my 2014 Ducati Hyperstrada 821 had symptoms of the "Christmas Tree Dash". While riding, I lost power, dash lights started flashing, and pulled to the side of the road. After turning the ignition off and on again, many dash lights flashed and it would not start again. I brought the bike back to my garage where I removed the battery, tested it, and reconnected. When I tried to turn the ignition on again, all blinkers were flashing, the radiator fan ran at top speed, but the bike would not start.
After searching I learned that these symptoms indicate the "Christmas Tree Dash" that happens as a result of the Beru ignition coils sending electricity back through the system and frying either the dash, ECU, BBS unit, or a combination of all.
I was confused how this could happen because in 04/2018 I had work performed on my bike by Ducati NYC, who said they performed the CR127 recall. I called Ducati NYC, who is now under new ownership at the same location, and they claimed they have no service records from the previous owners, and when they performed a VIN search with Ducati it says the CR127 recall was not performed.
My next step was to contact Ducati North America, who I provided some details including a screenshot of the work that Ducati NYC was scheduled to perform in 04/2018, and they said I needed to bring the bike to an authorized Ducati repair facility for diagnosis. They refused to say if Ducati would cover the repair even if the issue was linked to the CR127 recall. After consulting with friends, the consensus was that Ducati may or may not cover this repair. I decided to handle this on my own due to the possible towing and diagnosis fees, and the uncertainty of Ducati covering the repair costs.
I felt Ducati let me, a multi-bike, long-time customer down. Even though I said this in my emails, they did not seem to care.
After reading many threads about the issue, I replaced the ignition coils with genuine Ducati 848 coils (expensive but I didn't want to crimp the cheaper Aprilia coils), which is a ridiculously annoying job because you have to remove the fuel tank. Protip: remove the handlebars from their mounts and leave dangling forward, and wiggle the tank around the rear seat lock.
Then I contacted Carmo to see if they could perform the repair. I am located in the US, so I was directed to David from regulatorrectifier.com who assisted me with the process. David manages all Carmo requests in the US; you ship him the parts, and the parts are reshipped to Carmo NL for diagnosis and repair.
There were several messages sent back and forth, one of which I found particularly helpful:
This image found somewhere on the internet helped me find CAN-high and CAN-low, the connector is near the battery.
David from Carmo said that I needed to ship the BBS unit (Black Box), ECU, Dash, and a key to Carmo for complete diagnosis and repair. I sent the items, and 3 weeks later I received all the parts back. The dash was returned in perfect condition, and I couldn't tell it was opened and repaired. I connected everything back to the bike and it started up nicely.
Total cost from Carmo was $415.99; part was paid before shipping for diagnosis, and the remainder was paid once the repair was completed. I am very happy with Carmo's service.
Even though I replaced the ignition coils with updated 848/Eldor coils, I will soon return to a Ducati service location to have the CR127 recall performed.
Hopefully this helps someone else in a similar situation.
Happy to answer any other questions.
I wanted to share my experience with the "Christmas Tree Dash". In August 2022, my 2014 Ducati Hyperstrada 821 had symptoms of the "Christmas Tree Dash". While riding, I lost power, dash lights started flashing, and pulled to the side of the road. After turning the ignition off and on again, many dash lights flashed and it would not start again. I brought the bike back to my garage where I removed the battery, tested it, and reconnected. When I tried to turn the ignition on again, all blinkers were flashing, the radiator fan ran at top speed, but the bike would not start.
After searching I learned that these symptoms indicate the "Christmas Tree Dash" that happens as a result of the Beru ignition coils sending electricity back through the system and frying either the dash, ECU, BBS unit, or a combination of all.
I was confused how this could happen because in 04/2018 I had work performed on my bike by Ducati NYC, who said they performed the CR127 recall. I called Ducati NYC, who is now under new ownership at the same location, and they claimed they have no service records from the previous owners, and when they performed a VIN search with Ducati it says the CR127 recall was not performed.
My next step was to contact Ducati North America, who I provided some details including a screenshot of the work that Ducati NYC was scheduled to perform in 04/2018, and they said I needed to bring the bike to an authorized Ducati repair facility for diagnosis. They refused to say if Ducati would cover the repair even if the issue was linked to the CR127 recall. After consulting with friends, the consensus was that Ducati may or may not cover this repair. I decided to handle this on my own due to the possible towing and diagnosis fees, and the uncertainty of Ducati covering the repair costs.
I felt Ducati let me, a multi-bike, long-time customer down. Even though I said this in my emails, they did not seem to care.
After reading many threads about the issue, I replaced the ignition coils with genuine Ducati 848 coils (expensive but I didn't want to crimp the cheaper Aprilia coils), which is a ridiculously annoying job because you have to remove the fuel tank. Protip: remove the handlebars from their mounts and leave dangling forward, and wiggle the tank around the rear seat lock.
Then I contacted Carmo to see if they could perform the repair. I am located in the US, so I was directed to David from regulatorrectifier.com who assisted me with the process. David manages all Carmo requests in the US; you ship him the parts, and the parts are reshipped to Carmo NL for diagnosis and repair.
There were several messages sent back and forth, one of which I found particularly helpful:
I performed the diagnosis steps above and saw voltage dip below 2.0v when the dash was connected, which indicates a dashboard fault.
This image found somewhere on the internet helped me find CAN-high and CAN-low, the connector is near the battery.
David from Carmo said that I needed to ship the BBS unit (Black Box), ECU, Dash, and a key to Carmo for complete diagnosis and repair. I sent the items, and 3 weeks later I received all the parts back. The dash was returned in perfect condition, and I couldn't tell it was opened and repaired. I connected everything back to the bike and it started up nicely.
Total cost from Carmo was $415.99; part was paid before shipping for diagnosis, and the remainder was paid once the repair was completed. I am very happy with Carmo's service.
Even though I replaced the ignition coils with updated 848/Eldor coils, I will soon return to a Ducati service location to have the CR127 recall performed.
Hopefully this helps someone else in a similar situation.
Happy to answer any other questions.
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