Ducati Multistretta 1098S

[millemille]

Things I have learnt today.

The single black wire with a ring terminal on the end that I could not find on the 1098 wiring diagram and, as a result, I dismissed as unimportant and summarily chopped off and threw away is not as unimportant as I had thought...

Got the loom connected up to everything except the ECU and turned the ignition on and started testing all the lights, horn, dash etc. A minor snafu with the tail light connector, translating the 1098 harness to the Multi tail light assembly required the connector to be de-pinned and remade. But other than that all the smoke stayed in the wires and nothing went "ppffffzzzzzzzt".

Connected up the ECU and turned it on but the dash didn't go through the expected welcome message and the neutral light and oil pressure light didn't come on. Scrolling through the dash brought up "CANBUS 38.0" as an error message.

Quick bit of googling and it turns out a common cause of this message is the ECU 0V lead coming adrift. "What ECU 0V lead?" thinks I. "Aaaaaaaaah, that'll be the single black wire with the ring terminal....".

Good news is, with a jumper wire from the battery -ve terminal to the ECU body, the dash powers up with the correct welcome message and the oil pressure and neutral lights work and the throttle body stepper motor cycles. The even better news is there are no faults of any description on the dash so, fingers crossed, there's no other issues with the loom I've made.

Bad news is I've got to disconnect everything and take the loom off the bike and strip a chunk of it back so I can splice in the ECU 0V lead.

Bike is booked in with Cornerspeed for a week tomorrow for a final check and then, all being well, starting it for the first time.

[millemille]

It's safe to say the f**king thing is fighting me every inch of the last few yards....

Went to fit the custom throttle cables Venhill made, to my specification a few months ago, to the bike last weekend. The closing cable was spot on but the opening cable's inner was coming up too short. Don't know whether it was my specification or Venhill's manufacturing. Irrelevant now, so posted them back and luckily I was down near Venhill yesterday for work so was able to persuade them to do a rush job and let me pick them up.

Fitted them this afternoon and now the opening cable is, really, too long. With the adjuster wound all the way out it's just got the right amount of play at the throttle but whether I'll be able to take any slack out when the cable beds in is a worry. Anywho, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

With the air box in place and the ECU and injectors all connected up there were no faults logged on the dash so I thought I'd chance my arm and at least see if the engine would turn over. No fuel tank fitted and the coils disconnected and a press of the starter button...

Bugger!

Starter motor spins away but no engine roundy-round sounds and no "duff duff" from the exhaust.

Looks like the starter sprag is u/s.

[Skub]

With something as bespoke as your bike,there's always going to be details trying the patience.

Take comfort in providing a great and continuing read over lockdown.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Last year I had some jiggery pokery with the throttle cables on the Bonneville, which ignited quite a long discussion amongst some old boys on the matter of cables - Venhill in particular.

Apparently Venhill are a bit rubbish for actually making the length you've asked for! So maybe double check they've made what they said?

[MingtheMerciless]

Keep going, its a great read (and reminder that I should never ever attempt such a thing due to lack of skill and patience).

[v8-powered]

Admire your tenacity, I would have kicked it in to the sea by now. Sure will be great once finished, look forward to the finished article.

[millemille]

Sprag issue fixed. Turns out even industry recognised Ducati experts make the occasional mistake, in this case putting the sprag bearing in backwards...

Fixed it myself this morning. All back together and waiting on the RTV and threadlock to set and then top up the oil and coolant and have another stab of the starter button.

[weeksy]

Good luck! Video it

[Mr. Dazzle]

At least you know the sprag works now

[the_priest]

So enjoying this read and so grateful it is not me attempting open engine surgery while writing a thesis on Ducati quirks and simultaneously conducting the orchestra who happen to have taken residence in the garage loft.

[millemille]

The slight snag now is I've got the COVID. Starting feeling rough on Monday, did a lateral flow test yesterday (we have them at work and everyone get's tested every Tuesday. I didn't go in to work itself and instead hung around in the car park to do the test) which came back positive 15 minutes later. I also did an NHS test at the drive through test centre in Alfreton, impressively the results were in less than 12 hours later and which confirmed the lateral flow result.

Coughing, aching, headache, my heads all over the place and knackered; uninterrupted sleep is impossible because of the coughing. But if it doesn't get any worse than this I'll have got off lightly.

No idea where I've picked it up from. No one at work is ill and everyone got a negative on their lateral flow tests yesterday. Must have been in a shop somewhere as they're the only places I've been other than work.

[weeksy]

dont die befeore finishing it!

[Supermofo]

Get well soon, would say first dibs on the Multi but you've not finished it ya lazy git

[ogri]

Get better soon, hopefully you will not get the lingering after effects.

[Skub]

Bollox.

GWS man.

[GuzziPaul]

Get well soon, would say first dibs on the Multi but you've not finished it ya lazy git

Supermofo, I would recommend you don't have it, as it is possibly infected with Covid after all the blood and sweat that has gone into it. I on the other hand have had the first jab so should be immune

Guess this is going to put the build back a few weeks Get well soon.

[kendo57]

Hope you get through it quickly

[Supermofo]

Get well soon, would say first dibs on the Multi but you've not finished it ya lazy git

Supermofo, I would recommend you don't have it, as it is possibly infected with Covid after all the blood and sweat that has gone into it. I on the other hand have had the first jab so should be immune

Had my first jab at 11.10 this morning

[MingtheMerciless]

GWS MM.

[the_priest]

GWS and take the time to recover properly, then you can do justice to the bike! No dibs thanks, you need to finish it and ride it lots of places!