stalling tri colour

darren

i have finally picked up my tri colour after waiting over 20 years to grab one and so far as it's my first venture into fuel injected motorcycles i am amazed at how quick it goes and how quick it stops, i have been doing the bevel thing for a while so it's like starting riding all over again, i have two problems that i can't solve, firstly the bike won't idle and continues to stall if i don't keep the revs up, but when riding it revs cleanly right through the rev range, secondly, when i go to restart the bike after it stalls there is a 5 or 6 second delay after the fuel pump stops before it turns over, my battery is reading 13.5 volts after i have charged it over two different occasions this week to make sure it is maintaining it's charge, with your help where should i start my search for looking to solves these issues or will one theory solve both outcomes, thanks for your help

851 tricolore

hi Darren
from one 851 tricky newby(ish) to another.
Even though I've had mine a year or 2, still too many other priorities keeping me from getting it registered on the road. This spring though, definitely.
But, from what I've heard on the forum- your idling is quite normal, the first couple of years 851s had very light 'helper' springs so they don't close the valves as surely as other Ducatis.
You can change to later springs, adjust the valves closer to their tolerances- but never too tight of course, better on the loose side, or increase the idle speed a bit. Other than that- keep your hand on the throttle. Mine idles really nice at about 1400rpm (as far as I can remember).
This is assuming everything else is in good condition- no dirty filters or injectors. I guess yours are ok if it's running nice at higher rpms.

Don't forget to change the belts and common sense stuff if the bikes been standing a while (most have).

About the starting delay- that could be a bit trickier, 13.5V is not a lot, batteries in nice c ondition normally show a bit more than that, but it should be enough - is it old? These bikes need a healthy battery to run cleanly, so I heard.
Anything electrical could be due to dirty earths, on this bike the current has to go from one end of the bike to the other a few times- battery- switch-back to the relay etc. so the connections and wiring has to be good.
Depending on the mileage and how much it's been used recently, it's a good idea to check over the earths and electrical contacts, maybe the starter is sticky due to under use? A 5 second delay, with you thumb on the button? the cut out switches sometimes have a mind of their own- you can also try bridging that to see if it starts any better.

I'm sure there will be a few more useful replies for you from much more experienced owners coming along soon.

good luck and don't forget to show us some pictures.

Ian

customhead

Hi Darren,

I also did some light resto work on an 851 Ive had for a while. Brads site is a great place to start for some understanding and this page..http://www.bikeboy.org/products.html shows you how to play with the trim on your P7 have a spin with the screwdriver. I am not sure about the fuel pump but I just let the pump get up to pressure (you can hear it) before I try to start it anyway. Pity you dont live in Melb, Brad could sort it for you.

cheers

Sean

darren

thanks Ian and Sean for the reply, i am about to disappear for a while with work again, so i won't be able to have a tinker for a fortnight, i have started to have look at connections under the seat area to start to rule out loose connections, before i closed the door i gave it a kickover and as usual it fired up first press of the button but wouldn't idle on it's own and then again the delay till the next start?, what i did notice was because i was running it in the shed because the weather is noahs ark material at the moment that the exhaust fumes were quit strong, so thanks for the link to the site of bikeboy, when i return i will have a read and a play and see what i come up with, it's been a while since i have had a bike that i wanted to get down to the shed and get out on the road with, pity about the weather, i will post a reply when i return