1199 Panigale - first ride

Welcome back to everyone who is back :)

I sort of left you guys hanging in the end of the previous post with my turn signal reset button not working.

Turn signal switch

Here I was making first set of corners on the bike that was now officially mine, and already something was not working the way it should. At first I did not notice that the turn indicator did not switch off. Once I got on the freeway and merged to the HOV lane I finally noticed that the left turn signal is still flashing. So I hit the reset button again and again to no result. This is on the freeway in the pretty heavy afternoon traffic. I made my piece with it and decided to deal with it at home.

Panigale stock seat

It is of vital importance, especially on the early stages of break in, to work the engine up and down the load range and avoid keeping steady RPM for prolonged periods. 

Doing so did not help the heat issue though. 

My legs were getting burned pretty bad and I could not hug the tank, to keep my self in place. This pointed out one more negative aspect, the stock seat is pretty slippery at least while wearing jeans. I will follow up in future post on the seat problem slash solution.

Never mind all that though, up ahead was something that would put a wide grin on my face.
Close after the exit to my home street, there is a nice set of turns that I am well familiar with and I was anxious to lay my red hot beast in to. So I did and once again I did it easier and with more confidence that I ever did on my 848. 

Whenever I ride without full gear, I am cautious and try to stay away from big lean angles. Now wearing jeans and sliding back and forth the slippery seat I thought I was cautious. 

Turns out - I wasn't. When I flipped her on the right side, I was surprised with the speed I carrying through the corner and my lean angle. 

Marzocchi Front Forks

The combination of Marzocchi gas charged forks and Sachs shock on board the Panigale, are a great improvement compared to the Showa + Ohlins equipped 848 Course SE. Suspension, even at the earliest stages allows you familiarity and provides loads of feedback. 

Remember those evenings of meeting your bike buddies on the back roads and switching rides to checkout every motorcycle present. There is always the sense of awkwardness during first few minutes on board an unfamiliar bike. Well you feel at home on board the Panigale right away. 

I was further surprised once I got home that the right side of the tire was almost completely broken in. This is only after 45 minute ride on the street with almost legal speeds :)

Sachs Rear Shock

Apart from the heat and electronics malfunction, I am sticking to my original impression:

"Anybody can do more and can do it better, on board this bike right away!!! She inspires confidence.

Once home and parked inside the garage, an auxiliary cooling fan installed was working overtime. Switching the ignition off stops the fan.  This is where I started to worry if i maybe should keep ignition on and let the fan do its work. I pulled out my iPhone and with trembling fingers started googling whether or not I should let it run. This is by the way another thing that should have been explained by the salesman, in my opinion.

After a minute or so, of reading through enough gibberish, I understood that it was OK to switch the bike completely off even with the fan running.  However it is best to let it run and cool down. This is what I did. I wonder how long the battery is going to last if the summer temperatures wont drop any time soon.

At this point I recalled the problem with the turn signal.  With ignition on, only left signal could be switched on and could not be switched off. The reset button was completely useless. Right turn signal could not be activated at all. Switching ignition off and on would reset the signal.
My biggest concern though was that the turn signal reset button is also used heavily for dash board menu navigation and particularly for fast switching between riding modes.

I left the bike to cool down further and went inside to google the turn signal issue. Turns out almost all new 1199s experience the same problem. There is a service bulletin in place # 881 and repairs will be done by the dealer on owners request. Copy of the bulletin is here, for the more curious ones.
Ducati Service Bulletin #881

What they do is replace a part of wiring harness.
I called GOAZ to schedule my heat shield installation and turn signal harness replacement.
My biggest concern was still the heat issue and I stressed it to the person I was talking to in the service department, however they could only schedule me for next week....

Upcoming posts

• Break in ride to Prescott
• Heat shield recall and turn signal switch repair
• My first aftermarket parts and mods
• Track day at AMP