Infrared video of the Panigale. Here is the heat!

Infrared still Pics of the Panigale. Here is the heat!

Let me start off by saying I love everything about my Panigale, but the heat. It's almost like sitting in a frying pan when ambient air temp hits 88°F+ (not including solar heating of you and the pavement below you). When the temp goes up from there and you are not protected you may get burned (as some of us have).
So yesterday I did a little experiment. The data I collected was conservatively recorded. I did not use thermocouples or a data logger. I used a calibrated Fluke 568.

Here are the details:
"¢ Ambient air temp was 75°F
"¢ Concrete temp 72°F (in the protection of the garage - no Solar loading from the sun)
"¢ Started the bike cold and let it idle
"¢ Time lapse Stills Time in minutes from starting - (White = Hot, Black = Cold)
"¢ Took measurements in 5 minute intervals once the engine reached 172°F
"¢ Data points measured
"¢ Head area (valve cover included)
"¢ Edge of the seat
"¢ Top looping area of the header "heat shield"
"¢ Underneath the cowl area by the lock

Idling 1199 Panigale in IR.wmv - YouTube

Conclusions I have drawn
1. Hot exhaust gases do not like looping bends of especially directly off of the head. Placing this looping bend below the rider is not the optimal location.
2. The heat shield is completely inadequate for the amount of heat coming off of the exhaust header. Essentially within seconds the heat shield is saturated. It no longer acts as a shield, but an emitter. The more mass heating up means the more heat will be radiating out in our case up toward the riders since we know heat rises.
3. The rear seat cowl reached high temperatures as well. Again, I hate to draw conclusions, but electronics don't like a lot of heat. This may be aiding in some of the hot hard start situations. Electronics usually have a "operational" range they like. For example 10°F-125°F, range.

I hope some aftermarket folks can take this into account if they are going to design a new exhaust system

million dollar question... what does the heat map look like for other bikes?
Truth be told, I don't think any manufacturer designs vehicles to be sitting around for an hour.
FYI I have electronic speed controllers that will quite happily operate at 200F. They will shut down at 220F though.

Holy .... dude! That is one innovative and irregular review which I have never seen done before. Very impressive my friend! I made the mistake of riding the beltway in Washington DC during rush hour and sat in brutal traffic for two hours. Hottest temp I read was 220 and felt it too. However, if you think your bike is horrendous you should have owned a 1098 or 1198at with the other exhaust design! Ten times worse!
Thanks again for these informative test results and I must say, great job my friend!

Great view how about wrapping the pipe would that help

Interesting video. The heat shield looks like the sun with solar flares shooting off of it.

Does carbon fiber transmit heat at a slower rate than metal? I'm assuming it does but I don't have any experience with it.

nice analysis! I guess there willl be some heat channeling / ventilating required... CFis way better for shielding than any metal, but in our case not a real solution. the dissipating heat from the standing cylinder and the pipe cannot just be covered, it needs to be removed

I guess

Great experiment. But yes the question is compared to other ducatis like the 1098. That bike was hot but never really upset me. I have started to worry more about this heat issue. Once I have it I'll be able to judge. Again nice work.

Very cool experiment and thank you for taking the time to do it and post about it. I think it misses the mark on the heat source though. The only place the heat bothers me as a rider, is my knees. I'm pretty certain that heat source is the air flow through the radiator which is quite warm on the highway at 80MPH. Honestly, that is about the only thing I'd like to see different about the bike. I wish we could see the same kind of video with the bike in motion.

neroon said:

Very cool experiment and thank you for taking the time to do it and post about it. I think it misses the mark on the heat source though. The only place the heat bothers me as a rider, is my knees. I'm pretty certain that heat source is the air flow through the radiator which is quite warm on the highway at 80MPH. Honestly, that is about the only thing I'd like to see different about the bike. I wish we could see the same kind of video with the bike in motion.

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I suspect the heat behind our knees is partially due to the low pressure zone created by the bike and our legs, heat just seems to hold in this area, it's the back of my legs that gets hot, not the front. Holding you legs out like a frog seems to be the only thing that helps, even a small gap between leg and bike helps.

consolidated said:

I suspect the heat behind our knees is partially due to the low pressure zone created by the bike and our legs, heat just seems to hold in this area, it's the back of my legs that gets hot, not the front. Holding you legs out like a frog seems to be the only thing that helps, even a small gap between leg and bike helps.

Click to expand...

+1

Well I guess that explains the length of the stock number plate holder

Awesome study! Beat me to it, although I def wasn't gonna write up a nice spread sheet, just thought of taking pics in ir mode... Anyways thanks for this info, very helpful!

I plan on riding on the passenger seat; I dont know why you guys have not thought of it but I'm putting it out there.

Xbox said:

Well I guess that explains the length of the stock number plate holder

Click to expand...

+1. Here is a treat for you Ducati Performance 1199 Panigale Billet Folding Brake/Clutch Levers (96880011B)

good job litespeed
guess it makes it very easy for chopper with "infared" to find a panigale hey
they just follow the big glow !!

I suspect the heat shield is really not to keep the heat away from the rider, but to prevent people from being able to touch the header directly. As hot as the heat shield gets, the header gets significantly hotter. Metal is a poor insulator, so you can't expect the heat shield to insulate the rider from the heat, but it may have the purpose of being a heat sink, with the intent of helping get the heat from the header dissipated.

Heat tape, ceramic cote, etc.... can they insulate against the heat? In the short run, to some degree, but in the long run, no. What do you think the R factor is of heat tape or ceramic cote? Exhaust gas temperatures are typically over 1000F. To what degree do you think something as thin as the header wall, heat tape and ceramic cote can effectively insulate this much heat?

My guess is Ducati has little problem with baking the rider at a stop. There isn't much they can do about the problem, short of putting in a fan to blow air over the header. It is more likely that they designed rear to vent heat when the bike is moving. The slots on the heat shield speak to this. The header loop is probably set as low as it can be possibly be set to get as much air around it as possible as air is a good insulator and the air flow for the rear while moving is probably oriented as much as possible into the area.

Frog legs or splaying my legs works well in my experience to lower the heat while moving. I rode my 916 tonight. It directly heats your butt with the headers running closer to rider since they are tucked up and into the tail section. This design makes it pretty much impossible to get air into this area to dissipate the heat.

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Panigale heat from under seat.

Great work Litespeed. Very efficient way of showing the heat issue in plain sight.
Thinking back to school days....long time ago.... what about a moulded Asbestos covering where the rear loop is? Or some heat resistant material similar to fireman suits?

I second Ray916... the heat shield must have been intended as a sink, which is seems to do very well.

I just brought home my 99, but during my demo ride, it wasn't any worse than my ole 996 or 998.

Yes, Ducati doesn't care if the rider is warm... they should have an ad tagline,
"Go fast or burn your ..." or "It's a Ducati, suck it up."

CaliDuc said:

+1. Here is a treat for you Ducati Performance 1199 Panigale Billet Folding Brake/Clutch Levers (96880011B)

Click to expand...

@ CaliDuc ..... please stopppppp



Actually, don't