does your V4 sound this bad during startup

Mr V4 said:

I refused to believe a fuel injected bike should start like this. At first I just added some injecter cleaner and fuel stabilizer (here in SA we don't always have the cleanest fuel). It would alleviate the symptoms but the bike would have moments where the bike sounded like it was going to explode during cold starts.

Long story short I went on a ride and got the dreaded low battery indication on my dash and shortly the bike died....this turned out to be a failed stator coil that I got replaced under warranty. Ever since this stator coil has been replaced my bike starts perfectly like it did when it was new every time. 3000km down the line and still the same. When the bike stands for a while I put the battery on a charger to keep it tip top. Now I am not saying this was the cause of the issue but it is too coinsidental to ignore. I know the Ducati's (new and old) are very sensitive to cranking amps (especially during cold starts when the bike needs to work harder) so perhaps a weak battery or other issue with the electronic charging system is causing this issue. Worh checking in my opinion... Good luck

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you know i diid not even think about that...thats something ill have to get the service manual to check stator , thank you so much..

Mr V4 said:

I refused to believe a fuel injected bike should start like this. At first I just added some injecter cleaner and fuel stabilizer (here in SA we don't always have the cleanest fuel). It would alleviate the symptoms but the bike would have moments where the bike sounded like it was going to explode during cold starts.

Long story short I went on a ride and got the dreaded low battery indication on my dash and shortly the bike died....this turned out to be a failed stator coil that I got replaced under warranty. Ever since this stator coil has been replaced my bike starts perfectly like it did when it was new every time. 3000km down the line and still the same. When the bike stands for a while I put the battery on a charger to keep it tip top. Now I am not saying this was the cause of the issue but it is too coinsidental to ignore. I know the Ducati's (new and old) are very sensitive to cranking amps (especially during cold starts when the bike needs to work harder) so perhaps a weak battery or other issue with the electronic charging system is causing this issue. Worh checking in my opinion... Good luck

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My bike has had a funky cold start since i picked it up with 5 miles on the odometer. Lean-miss. Unusually loud engine noise (even for a duc) very noxious exhaust fumes w/unburnt fuel smell, smoking and even stalling. Ducati had done extensive troubleshooting on it to figure it out. Nothing made any change at all until they reflashed the ecu with a new map. It still misses and pops through the air box, but Its not stalling anymore. They had it for a few weeks. The really odd part is the bike was less than a month old and under warranty but on my invoice they wrote that there was no defect in material or workmanship and was not covering the repairs under warranty but instead they’re covering the cost of everything they did out of “goodwill”.

i hate to even say it but i have taken various bikes throughout the years back to dealerships for things concerning engine reliability and running, and ive come to the conclusion that the techs there dont know .... about tuning an engine..there are some who are the exception buit they are not allowed to do anything other than push what the dealership or manufacturer yell to push, if you want it tuned properly you have to take it to a tuner who knows and can tune your ecm and engine. taking my bikes back to dealerships has always been a disappointment and source of further problems with my bikes.. so 20 years ago i stopped letting even the dealerships touch my bikes warranty or not.

back when i bought a triumph daytona 955i, there was a problem so i make an appointment, show up to drop off then they say this is not under warranty because you modified the controls, even though the problem had nothing to do with the controls.. so i had t opay a lawyer to threaten to sue for discrimination of veterans with disabilities act etc tc etc ... they take my bike.. i tell them to only fix the leak..do not test ride it...well i get a phone call. to come to the dealership to discuss something.. i get there.. my bike is wrecked because some ..... and his ego thought I CAN RIDE THIS..and destroyed my bike .. so its still leaking and has 5k worth of damage.. they tried to blame it on me...so i had to pay a lawyer again and provide them with a recording of my saying DO NOT LET ANYONE RIDE IT...and the service advisor replying DONT WORRY MR. GONZALES NO ONE WILL ATTREMPT TO RIDE IT...took 7 months in the end they bought me a new bike.

so now.. the buck starts and stops with me...there is no i cant fix that..i have no choice but to fix it myself. its really not bad or hard, just takes time. and sometimes some special tools, bikes are not different from my LSs and SBCs

I totally get that, i do all my own automotive work. I agree about dealers. The worst part is that if you don’t work there, most of them think your mechanically incompetent. But with a brand new bike, the warranty makes up part of the purchase price. They should stand by their products. The problem owners have is that the manufacturers tune they way they do because theyre forced to by emissions requirements. Theyre totally aware that they’re sub-optimal but as a manufacturer they cannot change it. So an independent tuning shop is the only real way around it. But as soon as they touch it, your warranty is now void. Which is actually a win for the man because they're now off the hook. It’s a win/win for them. They get to sell machines that behave poorly and when you re-tune it they're no longer bound by warranty to fix anything else that happens to it. Because you modified it.

Unknownuser said:

I totally get that, i do all my own automotive work. I agree about dealers. The worst part is that if you don’t work there, most of them think your mechanically incompetent. But with a brand new bike, the warranty makes up part of the purchase price. They should stand by their products. The problem owners have is that the manufacturers tune they way they do because theyre forced to by emissions requirements. Theyre totally aware that they’re sub-optimal but as a manufacturer they cannot change it. So an independent tuning shop is the only real way around it. But as soon as they touch it, your warranty is now void. Which is actually a win for the man because they're now off the hook. It’s a win/win for them. They get to sell machines that behave poorly and when you re-tune it they're no longer bound by warranty to fix anything else that happens to it. Because you modified it.

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all very good points and spot on.

If you think that cold start idling is back, wait until you install slip-ons. It will sound 10x worse and even spit flames and nearly stall a few times before the engine warms up. This is from the cat warm-up sequence which ....... timing heavily to increase exhaust gas temps (in order to get the catalyst up to temp quickly). Also worth noting that this behavior can be exacerbated by the higher ethanol content we have in our US fuel formulations. I disable cat warm up in most of my tune files unless requested otherwise. With it disabled, it will warm up smoothly and not sound as awful and loud.

OpenFlash Performance said:

If you think that cold start idling is back, wait until you install slip-ons. It will sound 10x worse and even spit flames and nearly stall a few times before the engine warms up. This is from the cat warm-up sequence which ....... timing heavily to increase exhaust gas temps (in order to get the catalyst up to temp quickly). Also worth noting that this behavior can be exacerbated by the higher ethanol content we have in our US fuel formulations. I disable cat warm up in most of my tune files unless requested otherwise. With it disabled, it will warm up smoothly and not sound as awful and loud.

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LMAO oh yeahhh.. flames and what sounds like gun fire... uthe cold morning are really bad, when its hot out it doesnt do it much