Troubleshooting a cold Start issue

[thirstyThumb]

I have owned my Ducati Monster 620 since it was brand new and it has about 45K miles on it now. All the maintenance and service work is current but I am dealing with a strange starting problem that happens at random. Most of the time the bike fires up without any trouble. But every so often it will just crank and crank without catching when the engine is cold. When this happens I can roll it down the hill in my driveway and pop the clutch to get it running every single time. The immobilizer light turns off exactly like it should so I do not think that is the cause. It is frustrating because I cannot predict when it will fail to start and it only seems to act up during that first cold start of the day.

 

[blinkblink]

I have owned my Ducati Monster 620 since it was brand new and it has about 45K miles on it now. All the maintenance and service work is current but I am dealing with a strange starting problem that happens at random. Most of the time the bike fires up without any trouble. But every so often it will just crank and crank without catching when the engine is cold. When this happens I can roll it down the hill in my driveway and pop the clutch to get it running every single time. The immobilizer light turns off exactly like it should so I do not think that is the cause. It is frustrating because I cannot predict when it will fail to start and it only seems to act up during that first cold start of the day.

It seems you are having cold start issues. This usually happens on older Monsters often pointing more toward fuel delivery or weak spark than the immobilizer. Have you tried checking voltage drop during cranking?

 

[n0tlike0therdrivers]

@blinkblink is right! Your Monsters system is close but not quite strong enough on its own. Making sure that the fuel system holds pressure overnight might give you a clearer picture. Which is why you need to check your voltage drop during cranking.