My 2003 Monster 1000, which was recently 12k serviced, runs beautifully.  There were no issues during service, nothing wrong or weird.  However, it is (still) having an apparent cold start problem.

During the service, they were unable to replicate the issue.  But it's still happening.  Example: this morning, I again had a major trouble starting it, and in fact was unable to get it to start, or even come close.

Details:

The bike is stored in my garage, and was on the Tender all night.  The Tender light was green this morning.
Note temperature: garage is 55 degrees F.  Chilly morning.
Disconnect the Tender cable.
I'm standing to the side of the bike while trying to start it.  It's on the side stand.
Confirm idle lever fully towards me, kill switch in run position, headlight on low beam.
Key in, turn key, watch gauge sweep.  Green light only after sweep completes: bike is in neutral.  No gas light; I've got gas.
Fully pull in clutch lever.  Don't touch the throttle, at all.
Press and hold starter button.  Bike turns over.  Hold for 6 or 7 cycles.  No hint of the engine catching.  Let go of the starter button.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Turn off key.  Turn on key, watch gauge sweep.  Green light only after sweep completes.  Fully pull in clutch lever.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.  Getting slightly sluggish turning over.
Turn off key.  Reattach Tender.  Go do something else for 5 minutes.  Come back.
Disconnect Tender.  Turn on key, watch gauge sweep.  Green light only after sweep completes.  Tilt bike off side stand so that it's perfectly upright.  Fully pull in clutch lever.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Turn off key.  Reattach Tender.  Go do something else for 5 minutes.  Come back.
Disconnect Tender.  Turn on key, watch gauge sweep.  Green light only after sweep completes.  Fully pull in clutch lever.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Bike barely turning over at this point.  Reattach Tender, and take the car to work.

After all that, I came home at lunch, turned on the key, waited for the gauge sweep, pulled in the clutch, and thumbed the starter, and it started easily and immediately.

Temperature in the garage was 65 degrees during lunch, ten degrees warmer than this morning.  Either that temperature change makes all the difference, or trying to start it, leaving it for hours, and coming back somehow helps.  Or it just hates me.

This only ever happens when the engine is cold.  Otherwise, it easily starts on the first (usually) or second attempt.  If it's parked in sun, I've never ever had a problem.  If it's been running recently, I've never ever had a problem.  Also notable is that there was never, in the whole sequence this morning, even a grumble of ignition from the engine.  Just turned over, and never even gave me a chance to coax it with a twist of the throttle.

So, any thoughts?  Is my technique flawed?  Is there a part or sensor that might be to blame?  Do I need to consider a lightened flywheel?  New battery?  Replacement coils, ignition wiring?  Electric blanket to keep it warm all night?  Baptism in beer?  Bacon and mothballs in the airbox?

Thanks for any insight.  I've got an email in to the local Duc service guy (the one who did the 12k), but thought that I'd ask you guys for thoughts, while I wait to hear back from them.

For one, I would make sure the cold start lever is actually engaging.  If there is too much slack in the cable, it might not be properly engaging.

Next, I would check the plugs, especially the plug gap.  Colder mixtures are harder to ignite, obviously.

Also, check your sidestand and clutch switches just to be sure those are operating correctly.

Quote from: Jobu on September 03, 2008, 07:44:34 PM
For one, I would make sure the cold start lever is actually engaging.  If there is too much slack in the cable, it might not be properly engaging.

Next, I would check the plugs, especially the plug gap.  Colder mixtures are harder to ignite, obviously.

Also, check your sidestand and clutch switches just to be sure those are operating correctly.

Cool, thanks for the ideas!

The cold start lever definitely has an effect when it's running (increasing idle speed).  Whether that's enough (or too much) for cold starting, I'm not sure.  Is it more idle speed (more fuel?) or less, which one would prefer for a cold start?  In other words, should I look at tightening this cable, or should I be trying the idle lever at 3/4 or 1/2 of the full deflection?  I'm not sure which way is the right direction to explore, or whether there's likely to be a "sweet spot" for the lever.....

I've been through three sets of plugs with this issue.  First, the ones that came with the bike when I bought it in May.  Second, the ones that I gapped and put in myself.  Third, the ones that got put in by my mechanic at the 12k service, 300 miles ago.  All three sets showed this problem.

The sidestand switch is bypassed, by the previous owner.  (It'll start, when warm and behaving, with the stand up or down).  Starting with the clutch lever in or out also works; I'm just pulling it in because I imagine that it'll reduce the amount of resistance to the starter motor, and because I don't want to accidentally fly through the back wall if it's not in neutral.

Still, all good areas to explore.  For example, you got me thinking about whether the side stand switch bypass is maybe amateurish and intermittent, and failing sometimes, and I'm just interpreting it as cold-related.  When that switch is active, will a bike generally turn over and not start?  Or will it not even turn over?  I've never had a bike with an active side stand switch; I don't know the expected behavior with one.

I was actually wondering about the sidestand switch and rather it would turn over or not spark when the stand is down.  I would think that it wouldn't even turn over which is why I wouldn't think that is your problem.  My bike is a carby and doesn't have any of the safety switches, so I don't know.

As for the cold start lever:  I'm not sure of the effect the cold start lever has on your bike, but here is a link to a previous post on the board about the cold start lever and its function on a 696 (I think): http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=9885.msg167420#msg167420

Did your dealer hook up the scan tool and make sure the air and cylinder temp sensors are operating correctly? 

To rule out temperature you could take the battery out of the bike and charge it in the house where it's warmer. I dunno how much of pain it is to remove/replace the battery in an immobilizer bike but I used to have problems on cold starts w/ my m900. I know carbies are different but bringing the battery inside the apt at night to charge up over night kept it warm so it would have enough kick to start up in the morning. The other thing I had bad was that my spark plug cables were shot. I dropped the bike off at Flight Cycles (now Valley Ducati Services) and when Stu took off my spark plug cable the head came right off the cable. 

Park it in the house evidently that is what it wants.

I was unable to park it in the house due to wife aggro.  We're still negotiating.  Maybe she gets a new iMac, and I can park on the carpet.

However, I have discovered that a cold start is made easier by REDUCING the setting on the idle adjust lever, so that the lever is less than half of the way towards me.  So far I've had to do this on the fly, starting with lever all the way towards me, then sliding it back towards off, while cranking the starter, to get reliable cold starts.

Maybe a reduced setting creates a fuel-air mixture closer to what a cold engine likes?  Not sure of the underlying mechanism, but at least I've found something that has worked for a cold start, 4 times in a row now.  Still experimenting, but happier!

Course, the S4R and the 748 start immediately, even when cold, without this futzing around.  Sigh.

(And, no, before you ask, the other bikes aren't mine.  I just have garage space that friends use.)

Have you checked to see if you have spark when it does not want to start?
From the amount of times you typed
"Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles.
Repeat: Press and hold, bike turns over, no hint at all of the engine catching.  Stop after 6 or 7 cycles."

I will guess that it is not the battery.
If you are finding that it starts when warmer as well as with the high idle open less than all the way you may be too lean. does it start easier with the high idle off? get it fired and then turn up the high idle. Ask your mechanic if it was set up on a gas analizer as that would answer some of your questions.

If the plugs are dark you may be a victim of the cold start map in the ECU being too rich and flooding the bike, when you let it set for an extended period it clears out the cylinder and then fires.

just a guess but I would go with lean.
good luck

Anything 50 or under is very iffy with my bike. My old S4R was the same way, both stock and with PCIII. Sometimes only the rear cylinder will fire, yet the front cylinder has spark. new plugs, old plugs, doesn't matter. Sometimes it takes so long to start the battery grinds down and I worry bout having to walk my fatass 2 miles home
I put it on the tender when I got home this morning (and noticed my tank hinge pin was almost all the way out. WTF!). Even after full charging though, it will do the same thing tomorrow morning after work.

Cold start problems can be fuel related, when the bike is started the ECU adds extra fuel to get the bike going and warm up. The ECU does this every time with the engine hot or cold.

Once you know it is not spark related (checked for good spark) you need to see if the cylinders are getting fuel at all.
Does the dead cylinder spark plug get wet?
can you see fuel being sprayed from the injector?

If the cylinder is getting fuel then  you need to have it checked to see that it is getting the proper amount, this will probably entail taking it to someone with a gas analyzer and software to talk to the ECU.
Another thing to try would be to remove the power commander (just unplug) and go back to stock to see if things get better.

Good luck

Hi

Same model and year. Read a few post, here and there, with the same general feel.

I started getting this in October last year (Milwaukee area) and once the morning temps got below 40 wasn't worth the grief. that being said on the weekends if I parked it in the sun, still with low temps, bike didn't mind starting. My other Ducati (Millie MHR) would do the same, except it was my only form of transport at the time. Just the bikes character I thought, but some useful ideas here that I think need exploring, so we can develop a gotta 2003 M1000 check list for cold weather starting.

Tip I picked up from TOB, last year,I stopped using the fast idle lever at staring, just roll the throttleat start up, let it fire, then engage it. My 2 cents.

and while I'm at it thnaks to one and all for the above tip, plus the 'is my battery stuffed' and 'ignition relay' posts