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Long weekend on the Blue Ridge

S

suprphreak

Joined Oct 2013
115 Posts | 1+
toronto
Hey all, just starting the trip. Did 600km today, and more planned for tomorrow. The bike has been running flawless with full bags and my wife on the back. Averaged 4.3l/100km, and my last tank took me 286km (68km on reserve).

I'm also using a SPOT, with tracking, so click the link below to see where I'm at.

SPOT Shared Page
 
Have fun! Looks like a great trip! And I'm really liking this spot device!
 
Funny. Says your from La Canada and running trails in the US. I'm in the southern States and would love to ride real mountains waaaaay up north. It's Florida syndrome: flatter than keira knightley (who is hot regardless).
 
suprphreak said:
Hey all, just starting the trip. Did 600km today, and more planned for tomorrow. The bike has been running flawless with full bags and my wife on the back. Averaged 4.3l/100km, and my last tank took me 286km (68km on reserve).

I'm also using a SPOT, with tracking, so click the link below to see where I'm at.

SPOT Shared Page
Click to expand...

Awesome mileage, I would not dare to stretch that far, will refill at max 220km. Wow...looking at it i still can stretch more
 
Well, the fates are against me. Half way down Skyline Drive, and my bike (which just had the horizontal coil replaced 1000km ago) died, gave the error dash, and now won't start. Now in a UHaul truck headed to Winchester, VA where the good folks at Duc Pond Ducati will attempt to help me out on Monday.

Not so impressed with my first Ducati experience.....
 
suprphreak said:
Well, the fates are against me. Half way down Skyline Drive, and my bike (which just had the horizontal coil replaced 1000km ago) died, gave the error dash, and now won't start. Now in a UHaul truck headed to Winchester, VA where the good folks at Duc Pond Ducati will attempt to help me out on Monday.

Not so impressed with my first Ducati experience.....
Click to expand...

What"s a horizontal coil? I will watch out for that too..
 
Also, FYI to all Canada/USA owners: your Ducati Card assistance ONLY covers up to $200 in towing. No more. No hotels, no repatriation from a foreign country, or any of the awesome coverage you get from Duc in Europe. Honda has better service than this!!

In was quoted $575 to get towed to the nearest dealership, leaving me on the hook for $375usd. This is very very disappointing from a "high end brand"
 
If you need anything let me know. My work is good about me taking time off. or maybe I could send you my coil? let me know if I can help.

Good luck
B
 
DucPond

Sorry to hear of this issue.
Donnie and Julia Unger - owners of DucPond - are great people. They are normally closed Monday so that is good service.
Donnie is also one of the highest ranked Ducati techs in the US.
 
vincep said:
Sorry to hear of this issue.
Donnie and Julia Unger - owners of DucPond - are great people. They are normally closed Monday so that is good service.
Donnie is also one of the highest ranked Ducati techs in the US.
Click to expand...

I just stopped by the dealer today to see what time they opened tomorrow and saw the hours. I'm very happy for this arrangement!

Also happy to hear the bike will be in good hands!

Ps: sleeping in a uhaul truck sucks.
 
So, the bike could not be fixed, but not for lack of trying.

HUGE thanks to Josh at GP Bikes in Whitby, ON (my dealer) for calling Steve (Ducati NA service manager) for calling Donnie at Duc Pond to come in on his day off to have a look.

Donnie swapped the ECU, BBS, and ran a hundred scans, but it was all the following:

Both ignition coils, ground fault,
Both fuel injectors, ground fault,
Air bypass valve, ground fault.

All accessible connectors were checked, but it looks like the harness. Duc has authorized the replacement of the dash, ecu, coils, and harness. Yup, its pooched.

Also, no thanks at all to Duc Roadside Assistance. They were basically useless for anything but an in-town tow. Tip to everyone: get CAA/AAA and then rent a uhaul. Cheaper and get farther.
 
****** trip, brother. I don't know if I'd hold on to the bike if it bit me that hard. Love my Strada and would still recommend it but, every manufacturer has a slip in the line from time-to-time.
 
So I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday, they said that they plugged it in an only got errors on the injectors and air bypass. Since the tech expected to be removing connectors a fair bit he applied dielectric grease to the ECU connectors and.....it works now. All running.

This seems too easy to me. Can anyone think of any reason that might work? Let's just say I'm nervous to take this bike any distance at all.
 
suprphreak said:
So I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday, they said that they plugged it in an only got errors on the injectors and air bypass. Since the tech expected to be removing connectors a fair bit he applied dielectric grease to the ECU connectors and.....it works now. All running.

This seems too easy to me. Can anyone think of any reason that might work? Let's just say I'm nervous to take this bike any distance at all.
Click to expand...

Just thinking aloud (so to speak)...perhaps a critical electrical connector was shorting-out causing the malfunction and the application of dielectric grease (electrically insulating) to the connectors prevented further shorting. Dielectric grease is often used as a lubricant that won't degrade and allow arcing in the presence of electrical voltage. My $.02. :) Glad it's working for you now. I would trust it.
 
suprphreak said:
So I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday, they said that they plugged it in an only got errors on the injectors and air bypass. Since the tech expected to be removing connectors a fair bit he applied dielectric grease to the ECU connectors and.....it works now. All running.

This seems too easy to me. Can anyone think of any reason that might work? Let's just say I'm nervous to take this bike any distance at all.
Click to expand...

Very good idea. I have heard this before.
I will now apply dielectric grease to all connectors to prevent future problems.
Have already change coils, dashbord and ECU once.
 
ZRider said:
Just thinking aloud (so to speak)...perhaps a critical electrical connector was shorting-out causing the malfunction and the application of dielectric grease (electrically insulating) to the connectors prevented further shorting. Dielectric grease is often used as a lubricant that won't degrade and allow arcing in the presence of electrical voltage. My $.02. :) Glad it's working for you now. I would trust it.
Click to expand...

I guess that is good to hear. I plan to put as many miles as I can on the bike to make sure nothing that may be loose gets loose. Just seems odd that something in there is shorting somewhere. Hmm.
 
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