Ducati rear indicators – ST models

The Ducati ST was made in three main models, the ST2, ST4 and ST3. The major difference is the engine between them. They are all in the sport touring (ST) class and all have the same bodywork at the back and all fit the same panniers and frames. When the pannier frame is fitted it fouls the rear indicators so they must be removed from the bike and relocated onto the frame. This is fine if you run with the panniers on all of the time, but if you take them off and just keep the frames fitted then the back end of a very beautiful bike looks like dogs dinner with the indicators and frames sticking out.

My solution to this was to mount the indicators in a different position on the bike so that the frames can be fitted and removed, with or without panniers with the indicators left where they are. To do this I started with a smaller set of LED indicators (£8 from ebay) and an aluminium mount that I made myself. The reason for the mount was to make sure that the indicators were not too close together, these are 30cm (12 inches) from tip to tip.

This picture shows the mount with the LED indicators fitted to it. Note that the indicators come with bullet connectors that are compatible with the Ducati wiring.

The whole mount was then fitted with two bolts attached to the plastic just forward of the numberplate mount. The cables have not yet been routed in this picture.

The other thing to do is to remove the rear part of the pannier frame where the indicators used to mount. This is just a 10 minute job with a hacksaw and some black paint, it does not affect the pannier fitting at all.

This one has not yet been cut but the place to cut is the right hand side of the piece of wood so leaving the rubber button that touches the pannier. After this mod there will be no bits of ugly frame sticking out of the back of the bike.

You may find that the indicators flash more quickly with the LEDs fitted. There are two options to get them back to normal flash speed. The first is to order a three pin electronic indicator unit (relay) for less than €3 on ebay. The second option, which I used , is to remove the 10 watt bulbs from the front indicators and fit 18 watt bulbs. In my case I had some spare orange coloured bulbs so I also removed the orange shields from the front indicators when I fitted them.