Smoke from Exhaust

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turnone said:
It's great to get some info from Ducati as you have posted, but that's not an explanation as WHY it smokes or why any engine made today would require dozens or hundreds of miles to wear in and seat the rings.
I'd much prefer it didn't smoke at all and didn't require frequent checking. But big picture, it's not a huge deal and 2 year warranty should cover any problems.

Chris
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I would be very surprised if ANY new engine didn't smoke. Just because a a vehicle doesn't smoke from the showroom floor, it doesn't mean it never smoked.
Every manufacture has their own procedure for running in (Q/A) a new engine at the factory.
Some run them just enough to get it pass the smoking phase and expects the customer to finish the break in phase. Others like VW will completely run the engine in for the customer.
eg. Golf owners are told they can "thrash" the car from get go. First service is 15000km.
 
turnone said:
It's great to get some info from Ducati as you have posted, but that's not an explanation as WHY it smokes or why any engine made today would require dozens or hundreds of miles to wear in and seat the rings.
I'd much prefer it didn't smoke at all and didn't require frequent checking.

Chris
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fat-animal-14.jpg


"Hi, you've reached Ducati customer support.
It appears your cable is still connected."

turnone said:
But big picture, it's not a huge deal
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Someone ring the bell-of-.......-triumph!
 
PaddockStand said:
So I picked up my 1199S ABS today and the dealer had a copy of a letter/bulletin from Ducati on the subject of the smoke, I guess this has been discussed enough to warrant a formal response from Ducati.

As letter was a dealer communication the dealer couldn't let me have a copy or I would have posted it here. However, after an (insulting?) paragraph telling the dealer how to talk to the customer, the substance of the letter was that there's nothing to worry about and the bikes will use a bit more oil, and hence smoke a little, while running-in. It said this should stop during the run-in period.

It also went on to say that the oil level should be checked roughly every 150 miles during the initial run-in (first 1000kms/600miles). Contrary to some previous posts and dealer advice, the oil must be checked when the engine is COLD and the bike is level - not on the side stand. If you can't see oil in the upper half of the inspection window between the upper/lower level lines, it doesn't have enough in it and this is consistent with the owner’s manual. BTW the inspection window is really hard to see and is buried below the faring. Oil (in UK) is Shell Advance 4T Ultra 15W-50 or 15W-40, I suggest you pick-up a bottle when you pick up your bike.

I've watched the exhaust carefully when starting my bike today (just 62 miles so far) and I've seen no smoke at all, although the dealer said it smoked quite a bit when they first started it.

Hopefully this will put a few worried minds at rest.
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Awesome, finally some real world information. Would love to hear your thoughts on how the 675 and the 1199 compare, being that I, too, am a Daytona owner. Nice--just saw your first impressions post. Taking this conversation there so the other lads can continue posting pics of their girlfriends. ;)
 
I guess we should state why we would be concerned with smoke.
To me, smoke when new gives me the impression that the bike engine won't last in real world for years of abuse. It could all be in my head as I don't have hard evidence to the fact, but my intuition tells me that a little problem early can be a big problem later.

I'd much prefer mine never smoke at all.

Chris
 
I saw a 3km bike start up lots of times and I can tell you the smoke is nothing.....if you dont like the smoke then dont buy it, but it will be your misfortune.

There were alot of Ducatisti at the 1199s showing and they all just laughed when they saw how much smoke came out, because most of them had read all the hype about it.
They even said some of their ealier Duc's had blown more smoke on intial run in period.
 
Wallaroo said:
I saw a 3km bike start up lots of times and I can tell you the smoke is nothing.....if you dont like the smoke then dont buy it, but it will be your misfortune.

There were alot of Ducatisti at the 1199s showing and they all just laughed when they saw how much smoke came out, because most of them had read all the hype about it.
They even said some of their ealier Duc's had blown more smoke on intial run in period.
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Really? please, someone post a vid of another new Ducati smoking on start-up...
 
Sorry I asked the guy's if they could get a vid of their bikes starting when new, but none of them had a time machine:D

I guess it is down to who told you what.....I have seen it with my own eyes and have been told by some pretty good people that it all is ok. That is good enough for me.....now I am just sitting here waiting patiently for mine to get here..........Smokkkiiiiiinnnng:D
 
By the time the Panigales arrive in the U.S. someone in the U.K will have logged over 1,000km (~600 miles) and had their first service. THEN, we'll know if this is all just blowing smoke : ) or a real smoking gun. lol.
 
Chuck said:
By the time the Panigales arrive in the U.S. someone in the U.K will have logged over 1,000km (~600 miles) and had their first service. THEN, we'll know if this is all just blowing smoke : ) or a real smoking gun. lol.
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I have nearly 400 miles on mine, saw a tiny bit of smoke this morning but nothing since them, but then it did only have 80 miles on it this morning. ;)

It was a little low on oil at 80 miles, but when I checked it again towards the end of the day it hadn't used any more. Can't be certain yet, but it does look like oil consumption and smoke do drop as the miles build. Might get to 600 by the end of the week.
 
I'm at 550 miles with first service this Friday. Yesterday was my longest ride so far, around 160 miles. On start up I experienced smoke for the first time. And when I say smoke I means lots of it. Took almost a minute to run clear. Temp was pretty low but it was a clear day with no rain etc. Around 8c when I set off.

I should also say I've had porsches do a similar thing and never resolved the issue. Specifically happened on my 997 cars and worse on the turbos. It was an intermittent issue that plagued them. Sometimes you could literally blanket a parking area with fog.....
 
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JayKay said:
I should also say I've had porsches do a similar thing and never resolved the issue. Specifically happened on my 997 cars and worse on the turbos. It was an intermittent issue that plagued them. Sometimes you could literally blanket a parking area with fog.....
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Thanks JayKay.

A fellow Porsche owner chimes in with the same reasonably common issue I previously mentioned :p

Only my Cayman was affected by this phenomenon, with 6 that were fine. It really didn't bother me, since it was an absolute belter ..... for a car :D
 
JayKay said:
I'm at 550 miles with first service this Friday. Yesterday was my longest ride so far, around 160 miles. On start up I experienced smoke for the first time. And when I say smoke I means lots of it. Took almost a minute to run clear. Temp was pretty low but it was a clear day with no rain etc. Around 8c when I set off.

I should also say I've had porsches do a similar thing and never resolved the issue. Specifically happened on my 997 cars and worse on the turbos. It was an intermittent issue that plagued them. Sometimes you could literally blanket a parking area with fog.....
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this post has me pretty close to canceling my bike...
 
flynbulldog said:
this post has me pretty close to canceling my bike...
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I wouldnt take it quite that far. Happened again today exactly same amount of smoke for around a minute of running before it finally cleared. I'm going to talk at length to the dealers about it this friday when its in for the first service. I'll report back here.
 
Xbox said:
Thanks JayKay.

A fellow Porsche owner chimes in with the same reasonably common issue I previously mentioned :p

Only my Cayman was affected by this phenomenon, with 6 that were fine. It really didn't bother me, since it was an absolute belter ..... for a car :D
Click to expand...

Its a very well known issue with 911s especially the later models. Lots of apparent causes but never a solution. Anyone that claims otherwise has been lucky. I've had 7 over the past 12 years and it effected 4 of them, the turbo more than the others though.
 
Something to consider re the smoking. My Honda CBR 600RR 1st gen smoked on start up. Albeit not great billows of smoke ala the Panigale but it did smoke. Never had an engine issue.
 
I posted this in another topic, but probably should have here. Especially now that people are mentioning Porsches that also smoke:

Ducati is well aware of the smoking issue and it's from the vacuum pump that creates the near zero pressure in the crankcase. This type of system is derived directly from the automotive world and eliminates pumping losses therefore creating HP. Ducati actually told the dealership service techs well before the bikes hit the dealerships that this is a normal effect of the vacuum system.

Many new cars smoke upon start up. I often wondered why this was but I never really worried much about it. But I'm talking about a 2007 MB S550, 2 Boxster Spyders, a Panamera S, and a BMW 750, and a 2012 991 Porsche 911...everyone of these cars is mine or in my family and I have first hand noticed the smoke upon cold start up. I haven't looked into the designs of each of these motors, but they're all fairly high performance and since this 1199 technology is derived from the automotive world, I'd bet this is the reason behind the smoking of the cars.

Back on point, Ducati is 100% aware of the smoke issue, has a reasonable explanation, and has declared it acceptable. It's just my 2 cents, but I do know for a fact that service techs have known this for at least 4 weeks because I've known it that long.
 
Could this white smoke issue be caused by some kind of coating Ducati puts inside the exhaust to protect it from corrosion or could it be residue from the manufacturing process? I seem to remember some of my motorcycles doing this when they were brand new. Smelled nothing like unburnt fuel, burning oil, or burning coolant which are very easy to identify. I know my new FMF pipe on my XR smoked briefly.

If it's white smoke and doesn't smell like coolant...stop worrying and ride the damn thing. It will go away after a few miles.
 
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