First impressions

I never regretted spending money in ABS.

Braintrash said:

I never regretted spending money in ABS.

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Yup, something you never want to learn the hard way

PaddockStand said:

Somebody else can experiment with locking up the front, ABS or no ABS, its not something I'm going to do on purpose just to find out how well it works. Might experiment with the back though.

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That would than be me - if i ever get my standard panigale.
I test my abs once a week. Acceleration works in both ways.

And ... i like your comments on your first impressions. Best i have read so far.

Xbox said:

Yup, something you never want to learn the hard way

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I did.

FrostyFire said:

Nope it just bothers me when people have more money than brains. I asked a Ducati owner what model 999 he had. He said he didn't know. So I said, "Does it say 999S or 999R on the side?" ...."Oh I don't know." so I went and looked and told him what model it was. People like that shouldn't be allowed to own nice things, too stupid. 5 minutes later he told me he doesn't want to get the Panigale because of the belt maintenance required. Durrrrrrrr fail.

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This guy for real?? Thought he was joking. Lokking furwards to my Panicearly coming soon

WAfatboy said:

This guy for real?? Thought he was joking. Lokking furwards to my Panicearly coming soon

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Panicearly!

.

WAfatboy said:

...Panicearly...

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We have a winna

Ok so I've finally reached the first service mileage having spent most of the last month travelling and not being able the ride the Panigale. Purgatory.

Here's an update - call them second impressions...

1. Unlike other bikes I've owned, where the run-in is just something to be endured and where the process didn't seem to make any difference to the bike at all, this is not the case with the Panigale. The hesitant throttle has all but vanished as I approach 600 miles and the bike is much smoother at lower rpm's or when chugging along in traffic.
2. The oil looks really ...... at 600 miles, sort of fits with point 1 in that this engine really does need to wear in. I'd recommend an intermediate oil change between new and 600 miles, assuming you have the skills/filter required, but don't worry if you can't.
3. I know all the theories about red-line run-in, but I'm glad that I stuck to the Ducati recommendations with this new engine design, I think the engine/gearbox is quite tight when new and heavily stressing it might not be the right thing to do, although I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stick below 7k (ish) up til 1800 miles. If your read the owners manual, anything above recommended run-in rpm releases Ducati of all warranty obligations.
4. It consumed about 1/2 litre of oil during the run-in, most towards the beginning, quite a bit at about 150 miles.
5. No smoke at all towards the end of the 600 mile run-in period, although there were two isolated smokey starts at about 400 miles.
6. It starts on the button every time and I can't recall it stalling once.
7. The odd behaviour of the exhaust valve persists at 30mph/3500rpm/2nd gear. I'm convinced this is a software glitch or something deliberate to do with noise testing. I'm sure it will be fixed by a future ECU flash and it's no big deal. If not, the exhaust valve is history, it seems to serve no purpose anyway!
8. The paint is nothing special. Start looking after it at day 1, don't be lazy and leave it. Not a deal breaker, but it should have been better for this money.

In summary, the more I ride it the more I know I've made the right choice! If you're wavering don't, you won't regret it.

More news after its been on track, possibly Californa superbike School at Silverstone in June as a gentle introduction before Val de Vienne in early July. I know Val isn't really a Panigale circuit, but I booked it before I put my deposit down. Just need an extra 1200 miles before then. It's a tough job, but I'll manage.

Paddock, are you sure it states an extra 1200 miles with restricted revs after the initial service??

Fraid so - page 187 of the owners manual:

"From 1000 to 2500 km
At this point, you can squeeze some more power out of you engine. However never exceed 7,000 rpm."

The orange section of the rev counter goes up from 6 to 7k after the oil service, lest you forget.

Love the way they put it, had to be written by an Italian. Bet its not written like this in the Beemer handbook.

As someone else pointed out its worth noting its 1000km, not 600 miles. I've ridden 615 miles, but the oil change waning hasn't come up yet. Should be just right by the time I get it to the dealer.

1800 miles is a years riding for me!!

JONAH said:

1800 miles is a years riding for me!!

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Not on a Panigale, it isn't

My dealer told me to do 600 miles at 6k revs and then for every 100 miles after add another 1k on the revs.
That means at 1000 miles I'll be at 10k.

Not sure what the manual says but if the guys at JHP are telling me to do the above then I trust them implicitly. If they don't know how to run a Ducati in then I'm a monkeys Uncle.

Scoop101 said:

My dealer told me to do 600 miles at 6k revs and then for every 100 miles after add another 1k on the revs.
That means at 1000 miles I'll be at 10k.

Not sure what the manual says but if the guys at JHP are telling me to do the above then I trust them implicitly. If they don't know how to run a Ducati in then I'm a monkeys Uncle.

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Sounds a bit more reasonable. I suspect that Ducati are being a bit cautious with their new engine design by asking for 1800 miles at 7k.

its going to be hard enough for me to keep it below 6k for the 1st 600 mile let alone anything else! ..I think i,l end up going over the 7k limit on a few occasions and just pretending it didnt happen

I wouldn't sweat the 1000KM no fun ......... Most everyone who knows anything about bikes will either break them in on a dyno or at the track. I did this with my RC8R and it worked fine; took it to the track and rode balls out. Changed the oil at 50 miles and had to sit on it for the winter season, then finish out the break in. Mind you, the RC8R is my race only bike (2011 Track model). I actually just ordered a case of RP Break-In oil and Max-Cycle when the break-in is over. FYI, I also use Purple Ice due to the glycol ban at the tracks.

New Motorcycle Check list, Break in

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

Just a couple of references.

Best line:

Notice that your owner's manual says at this point you should still be keeping the RPM under something like 4,000. I disagree with this quite strongly. Moto Man gives a good argument on why the factories give such a recommendation, which goes against all my experience and understanding and what every racing team in the universe does.

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Supposed to pick up my Duckadi Panty-party this week ! I'll be braking it in as the manual/dash instructs me to. The engineers who design these things are alot smarter than I am. Maybe if it were a track only bike , and I had access to an extra engine and a couple of techs , I might go balls out from the get go. I mean , who's gonna putt around at 6000 rpm on their race bike ? But for the street , I'll follow the instructions given. If my engine decides to frag itself 1000 miles in , I know I'm covered when the factory tech shows up with his laptop , and plugs in to read my max rpm. If he sees that you were blasting around at 12k rpm with 700 miles on the od , they're not going to cover the rebuild.
Good write up by the way. Keep the info coming guys.

2012DUCATI1199 said:

Supposed to pick up my Duckadi Panty-party this week ! I'll be braking it in as the manual/dash instructs me to. The engineers who design these things are alot smarter than I am. Maybe if it were a track only bike , and I had access to an extra engine and a couple of techs , I might go balls out from the get go. I mean , who's gonna putt around at 6000 rpm on their race bike ? But for the street , I'll follow the instructions given. If my engine decides to frag itself 1000 miles in , I know I'm covered when the factory tech shows up with his laptop , and plugs in to read my max rpm. If he sees that you were blasting around at 12k rpm with 700 miles on the od , they're not going to cover the rebuild.
Good write up by the way. Keep the info coming guys.

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I noticed the data recorder in the part diagram immediately. I'm still unsure if I want to rev it out, but I will be changing the filter after 20-50 miles and using Royal Purple Break-In oil up to 1000-1500 miles and switching to the Max-Cycle.

Just crossed the 100 mile mark today..pathetic I know but I have been traveling since I got it. I don't think my old ass can handle this brick of a seat much more, so I ordered the comfort seat tonight. At 5'8", I'm either all the way forward to keep weight off my wrists, or far back to distribute weight evenly accross my ass. With the stock seat, it's brutal in both positions. Love the bike, hate the seat!

Yeah , an early oil/filter change pre-service deffinately would'nt hurt. I plan on buying a couple of filters when I pick up the bike.