brad black wrotethe ecu base file will make the difference, not the loom. the differences with them is that the s4r has the two fans, and also how the starting system works is different. i paid a software guy to modify the 5am s4r file to work in the early st4s, which was basically turning one fan off. it still logs a fault that it says is fuel trim from memory, but it's actually the difference in starter circuit logic, don't recall exactly how they do it now.
i wanted a 5am file as i use them for replacements in st4s and the 59m are both hard to find now and less reliable, so it made sense to use the 5am. 59m is not that unreliable tho.
That's It! The ECU is just a computer and what we call "the map" is the software. The software contains the data for injection and ignition which are the data we modify when tuning (relatively easy to do on 59 and 5A) AND the "operating system" including a lot of other functionalities: fans, oxygen sensor, CAN line, etc.
What Ducati calls "servo start" (you press the start button and the starter keeps on turning on his own until the engine starts) is, in reality a software tweak: the starter relay coil needs a relatively large amount of current to work. The ECU has just two output pins capable of providing such current. These outputs are originally intendend to provide current to the heating element of TWO oxygen sensors as these are highly demanding.
So, bikes with one or no oxygen sensor can equip "servo start".
1198's use 2 oxygen sensors instead on one on the 1098. As on 1198's both high current output pins are used, there's no "servo starter" and the starter relay coil is primarily fed by a smaller really connected to a low output pin.
The problem is that although the whole software file can by edited, there's no -easy- way yo know which piece of code does what.
What I want yo highligh here is that the easiest choice is to have a loom and ECU combination as close to the bike's needs as posible.
It is this the approach I used when I built my bike: No CAN líne, easy electrical tweeks needed to overcome the indicators issue and dash lights connections and with every input and output my engine needs. As nice new adds my bike has "servo starter", side stand and clutch lever safety switches and the EOBD light. The loom came two with the S4R stick-coil, much lighter than the original tradicional coil assembly. Then fan error issue is still there though, but that's a part of these custom builds (and I'll solve It ASAP).
A replacement ECU such as the Microtec unit may overcome all these problems as it's quite user-friendly to configure, but it's an expensive piece of kit and doesn't have any other advantage on 59/5A. My 59 is on my bike for over 10.000 Km now and works fine. I think the reliability issues were more due to Ducati placing them in funny places (i.e: too close to powerful heat sources) than to the hardware itself.
