DES & other Error Lights 1299S

DES error light flashed on my bike along with many other lights.. quick shifter stopped working occasionally.. anyway., long month long story later., the ground cable from battery to the engine had a small crack.,(behind the battery) like i looked right at it and didnt see it small.. accidentally found it.. anyway., ground cable was the problem.. crack was small enough that it would still work except when i hit a bump.. this happened to me 2 times.., panigale has cracked 2 ground cables (at the bolt on connection.. ).. so im posting because it will happen to somebody else.. save you a month long headache looking ..

I had this happen to me, and I can't remember if I adjusted the battery cables, but I did unplug every single electrical plug (EVERY single one), sprayed compressed air into them to ensure they were dry, then sealed each one with a small amount of dielectric grease.

I took this route because the dash lighting up every error possible like christmas lights, happened maybe a week after I rode my 1299 on a long distance tour, the last leg being an absolute monsoon. The one connector I found to be moist was the suspension ECU, which is on the left side of the bike near the front - easily accessed by taking the left fairing panel off. It's right there.

Jr51 said:

DES error light flashed on my bike along with many other lights.. quick shifter stopped working occasionally.. anyway., long month long story later., the ground cable from battery to the engine had a small crack.,(behind the battery) like i looked right at it and didnt see it small.. accidentally found it.. anyway., ground cable was the problem.. crack was small enough that it would still work except when i hit a bump.. this happened to me 2 times.., panigale has cracked 2 ground cables (at the bolt on connection.. ).. so im posting because it will happen to somebody else.. save you a month long headache looking ..

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Oh wow, glad that I found this thread. My 2015 1299s is having DES error. Took to the dealer a month ago right after I replace with a lithium battery (real tough to fit!), they didn't find anything. Suggested that it might be the battery and cause low voltage readings on the sensors. Got the bike back, went on a ride two weekends ago and the bike completely shut off while I was riding down hill out of the canyon on my way home. Completely out of electricity. I was able to to get help to get the battery charged up, but only took a few minutes and that didn't make sense. I thought it may have sat at the dealership for too long with the new battery that was never completed charged up. I had the battery charged up completely this past week and went for a ride today. The DES error light came on again... gonna take the fairing off to have a look at the terminals to see what's going on. Maybe it's like what you found with terminal cracked, but still intact and was only a problem after some vibration to separate them momentarily...