Electrics
So far, I have not had to make any repairs to the electrical system, apart from re-insulation of the ignition-pickup leads. By way of preventative maintenance, all junction blocks and connections are dismantled and flooded with ACF-50 dielectric anti-corrosion fluid on an annual basis.
The old rubber battery strap had rotted, so I’ve replaced it with a doubled black bungee cord, which looks neater than it sounds!
Extra earth lead (black) drops from battery to one of the vacant threaded bosses behind brake pedal, probably improves starter cranking. Goodridge stainless banjo bolts with better flow characteristics than OEM.
Additions to the wiring currently amount to three items. The first is an extra earth lead attached to a vacant threading on the cases behind the rear brake lever, which helps to reduce voltage-drop and enhance starter- motor performance. The voltage-hungry Pro-Oiler pump needed a fused ignition-controlled direct feed rather than powering it off the rear light supply, and an accessory power lead now runs up to the bars and is chiefly used for attaching a battery charger.
An important upgrade has been to swap the old lighting/horn/indicator switch block on the left bar for one with all the same capabilities from a 996 Ducati. This has much better internal contacts, but the main reason for the change was to acquire the same excellent push-to-cancel indicator switch as is on my ST4. Apart from marrying the switch leads to the loom, the only modifications necessary were to drill a hole in the bar to take the steady-peg, and to rearrange the switch terminals for the headlamp so that the two filaments of the H4 bulb would not be alight at the same time.
Dash panel, showing bright green LED for lights-on warning (compare with other warning lights). Two flashing red LEDs within rider’s view for left-indicator alert. Pro-Oiler controller showing Standard setting #1 attached under custom screen. Edge of screen rolls down, not up, so no turbulence.
Try as one might, it is very easy to forget to cancel the indicators. My cure for this has been to fit two sets of two high-intensity red LED warning lights at the top of the instrument panel so they are within my field-of-view at all times, unlike the feeble green light fitted in the strip below. Red is much more noticeable (to me anyway) than green, and having these lights flashing as soon as the indicators are switched on means it is impossible to forget them. This is a better solution to the indicator-cancelling problem than having some gadget count twenty flashes before it tries desperately to alert you or worse, turns them off by itself. I’ve added this feature to all three of my bikes, and it is foolproof and effective. Since the LEDs are wired across the existing warning light, two sets are needed, because LEDs are unipolar and the current through the warning light reverses dependant on the side in use.
A green high-intensity LED has now replaced the tiny bulb in the lights- on tell-tale, and is a visible reassurance in daylight when I cannot see light coming from the headlamp itself.
Four more LEDs, 10mm red ones this time, were fitted inside the tail- light to improve daytime visibility. Cagiva specified a double-bulb CEV rear light so it already has some redundancy built-in, and the twin 21watt stop filaments need no reinforcement.
LED sidelights (not turned on) behind plastic windows. Visible gaps between fairing sections filled and painted. GB-spec headlamp from ’93 Ducati 750SS. BSA-style gaiters.
The final lighting addition comprises two arrays of five 10mm white LEDs set behind Plexiglas windows in the apron of the bikini fairing. These are intended to be side lights, not to illuminate the road, and the 30degree beams emit a stunning white light that is far more noticeable than the halogen headlamp low-beam, especially as the latter is necessarily aimed downwards. LEDs are great fun to play with, and their miniscule current requirement means that there is very little extra load on the bike’s electrics. This is helpful, because my bike has got a 200w generator as per the 600 Pantah, rather than the expected 300w unit of the Alazzurra.
Front view, showing bright LED sidelights set into fairing apron, headlamp on sidelight setting too. Black panels to fairing make it look slimmer, I think.
I suspect that all Alazzurras came with European/US pattern low-beam CEV 287 headlamps. Only recently I’ve discovered that Ducati’s UK- spec ‘90s SuperSport bikes have an otherwise-identical CEV 365 unit with dip to the left, and I found one such on ebay at less than a quarter of the new price. The light pattern is also improved, but I am tempted to replace the halogen H4 headlamp bulb with a HID unit, not least to match the colour-temperature of the new LED running lights. However, though the power consumption of these bulbs is only 35watt, they require 15amps to strike the arc, so a direct-from-battery feed and relays will be advisable to protect the wiring and switches. Hopefully, the charging circuit will be able to cope with this transient load which tapers down over 25seconds, so the longer my rides are, the more the battery will benefit from the reduced headlamp wattage. On the ST4, this is not an issue, and the HID light is awesome!
...continue in next post.
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