New battery 2026

New battery installed.  Went with the AGM/ Yuasa that was the OEM - Costs $166. Started up fine. Waiting for better weather to try out the new set up/ get some miles on the new throttle syncs, etc. 

2026 update - Ducati Monster 796

 Just some latest photos- 

New starter wire

Also redid the sprocket cover

Motolectric wiring upgrade

Read in a few forums that the OEM wiring on the monsters is not the greatest so got the Motolectric HICAP circuit upgrade - essentially a set of three wires that run from the ground to the negative terminal on the battery. The starting motor to starting solenoid wire and one from the solenoid to the positive terminal. Install was fairly simple - all the OEM wire came off the bike so did not need to piggyback anything. Hardest parts were-

1. Threading the wires through the frame as they are thicker than OEM and there isn’t much room to get them through. Also some zip ties were behind the battery box so had to take that out as well

2. Attaching them to the solenoid and then putting the caps on top and putting the solenoid back in the bike was a pain. Since the wires are thicker, they don’t bend as well to get to battery terminals. 

Other than that, went ok. The bike which was not starting at all on the 4year old battery actually started up with a little effort. I’m hoping that when I replace the battery the start-up is a lot quicker. Video below of before/ after.

Kit was $130- install about a couple of hours given the amount of stuff you need to take off. At 31,700 miles  

Negative/ earth mounting point

Solenoid under the tank

Starter mounting point

Zip tie behind the battery box holding in the wire from solenoid to starter.

Solenoid with the new cables attached. 

Throttle syncs

The monster started running much better following the vacuum hose replacement, but would still have some issues with idling, at least at first start up and then maybe running down to the first light.  Took it in to the dealer to have it looked and had the throttle bodies synced.  Was told that if the hoses were bad for a while the bike would learn bad habits. Cost little over $200 for an hour worth of exploring and fixing.  Rode it back and then tested it out a few days later and it is running great.  The battery seems to be on its way out.. starting to get the rsw 0005 error, so that is up next.  Will probably do it in spring in time for summer. Still at 31k miles.