It's possible the battery has just been used up. How old is the battery??

 

The recall gives you a metal heat shield behind the regulator, so that's how you can tell if it's been done. They'll do it if it hasn't, but if it has then the next regulator is your problem... if that's actually what's going on. It's a $150 part and a 15 minute operation to switch it out, but you should charge your battery and have it diagnosed first. If the battery has no dead cells, then try swapping the regulator. See if you can get your dealer to take back the new VR if it doesn't solve the problem; my dealer took it back and I got a refund. If you're still losing battery power then it's probably a stator, which is expensive and what happened to me a month or so ago. That's rare though...

 

Oh god, the rollercoaster of Ducati repair bills, i can see it now.

It's a 2008 model so coming up to 5 years old... would of thought a battery would last longer than that? It only has 3800 miles on it so it's not like the battery has been used to crank the bike over a lot!

I'll call Ducati Snell tomorrow and hopefully get some light on the situation.

Thanks

 

5 years is ancient for a battery. Get it tested!

 

5 years is about 2 years past it's prime. Toss it and get a new one.

 

Agreed.

 

Battery, v/r won't kill the battery over night plugged into a tender.

 

Ok thanks guys, just spoke to my local dealership and they haven't even heard of a recall on 848's for the VR... Maybe its not a problem for the UK bikes?

Anyways i think im gonna follow your advice and get a new battery, ill do it next spring as the bike is going away for winter soon (boo english weather)..
Considering i can order one from the states for $160, i may just get a lithium Shorai battery!

 

You'll like the Shorai. Much lighter and better cranking. Get the one for the 1x98. Fits in the box no problem and a bit more juice.

 

Wait... The bike would start after riding or after you tried starting throughout the day during a ride?

 

Batt 5.2 error is V/R 100%. The battery isn't being regulated and causing a Hi battery error.

Get your dealer to replace your VR. Ducati's all had the VR issue; UK bikes were effected too.

I just went through this issue about a month ago. I changed out my V/R...no issues since.

 

^5.2 is battery low not high. I had that issue last month as well and v/r fixed mine. After the op answers the question as to when it happens we'll know if it's the battery or the v/r. Other tell tell sign is if the bike gets hot it'll stop charging fully.

 

^5.2 is battery low not high.

Yeah, 5.1 is "HI" I mix them up sometimes. You would think the higher number would mean "HI" and the lower number would mean "LO".

 

VR can cause the charge to be either too low or too high. If it's the battery itself it most likely just won't hold a charge, and will be too low. If it's a stator it won't send a charge, and will be too low.

My guess is after 5 years the OP needs a battery, regardless. VR is likely too since that's a common problem. If he's really unfortunate he may need a stator, like I did.

 

Thanks for the input everyone, all good stuff!

Called up a few of my dealerships and a few didn't even know of a recall (a bit fishy to me..) and the 2 which did said that my bike had the heat shield + VR changed back in 2009.

I think my battery might just be on it's way out so i will order another one... I went for another ride yesterday and even after 4 hours riding my bike wouldn't hold a charge over 11 volts, at one point i turned the key and the dash didn't even come on, as if there was a loose connection!

Before i order a new battery i'm going to take the fairing off and check all connections and maybe charge the battery off the bike instead of through the connector.

 

Get the bike fired up and check the voltage screen, if it's low/hi then the v/r is likely the cuprit and it took your battery with it.

 

For those interested the bike kept on giving me problems, it completely lurched today at around 30mph then did a huge backfire and then picked up again... So i was all set to get a new battery.

I took the fairings off and the terminals on the battery weren't loose but definitely weren't tight...They didnt have a nut securing them in place though! So i changed the bolt and put a nut underneath to secure them, I turned the bike on and HEY PRESTO she's reading 12.5 volts again, she started up so quickly too!

Weird that if the bike starts up then its obviously getting juice, but was reading 10.5 volts...tighten the terminals and its getting 12.5..??

Im just happy shes back on form

 

12.5? That's way too low on a running bike. The volt meter on the bike isn't perfect but if yours is reading 12.5 running, then you have a charging issue still...

Good Luck!

Edit: nvm you mean it's reading 12.5v with the key on engine off.

 

12.5? That's way too low on a running bike. The volt meter on the bike isn't perfect but if yours is reading 12.5 running, then you have a charging issue still...

Good Luck!

Edit: nvm you mean it's reading 12.5v with the key on engine off.

Ye sorry when i said "on" i meant ignition was on, not engine running... When the bike is running shes around 13.5 volts give or take.

 

You have a battery tender? Only reason I ask is it makes hooking a voltmeter to the bike easier. 13.5 is a bit low but I'm going off what I know from my 1098s. I guess as long as it's holding steady you should be ok. With the volt meter you'll get an accurate reading, mine always reads a tad lower on screen than what the bike is really doing.