tale of a leaky tool (aka European return of the lucky knickers 1098)

[moose]

Well, I gotta say I was well pleased with the response from fellow Ducatisti on the posting of my 980 mile day trip to Sweden. And as stated the 1098 performed without fault....

.... that was on the way there!

And please don't jump to conclusions about my lovely lady - it wasn't her fault - but an aftermarket add-on... Here's how the trip back transpired...

I'd enjoyed so much attention with the lady in quite a few towns and resorts in the south of Sweden I'd planned to meet up with some work mates a couple of days before traversing Denmark and returning to Blighty on the Esbjerg-Harwich longship. Only I never made the night out or the trip back....

The previous night had seen some torrential plooting (french for raining, I'm very pro-european you know ) - the lady had been parked up under a balcony overhang with only her tush sticking out nowt but a tadge, but I thought I was safe...

I was about 200m into my 45 minute trip to meet up with the boys, and all went quiet in Helsingborg.... not a peep from the TerryWogans at the back end and no Blackpool in the cockpit....

After a very frustrating 20 minutes trying to warm her ladyship up and dry her out (kept cutting out whatever I tried in terms of throttle/tickover) - I decided to "call a friend"

Wilf at MotoRapido in Winchester gave me all the numbers and got the Ducati Assistance (AA Europe) to call me.

Long story short, the back was shipped back to the UK.

So what's all this about a leaky tool I hear you ask ??

Well, while getting the return planned via Wilf, the chuffin' DataTool kept arming, squealing, cutting off, doing a Ronco 50 Memorable Tunes Door Bell impression - so we managed to coax it into "workshop mode".

It seems he tried and tested DataTool whatever (mk 3 I think) had decided to take on water like a camel after 40 arabian desert nights in just one Swedish damp evening! When the boys at MotoRapido got the bike we discussed the symptons - they'd found the problem in a very short time.

The alarm unit which is, as usual, located in the tail unit had soaked up water and decided to act with abandon cutting off the fuel pump and ignition at will!

It's now encased in silicon and you're more likely to get let into a convent in your birthday suit than it taking on water again. Wouldn't you have thought that an alarm for a motorbike would be wetproofed?!?!?!?

Moral - don't think your alarm is the only protection your bike needs - in my opinion the alarm needs protection too - so stick a chuffin' johnny over yours and ride safe mates.

Thanks must go to the gentlemen in the spanner'n'hammer dept. at MotoRapido

/moose