Excellent review with a feel for the engineering issues! I have meeting today with Ducati to consider cancelling my order due to the neutral issues. My left hand wont stand up to that in traffic. Its encouraging to see yours did improve over a 1000 miles or so. Will let you know outcome whether its on or off after today
My "neutral issues" did improve with use, but it is not 100% I have had false neutrals between gears too, I put that down to operator error. rightly or not I will sit at the lights in 1st gear rather than looking for neutral.
1800 miles on the 1260 now and my comments - Gearbox is getter better everyday the QS is getting smoother and MOST of the time I can find neutral, still goes missing sometimes but mostly when on a slope and there is a load on the gears. I had the non starting problem once so far very early on and it has not done it again. Just switch off, waited minute or so and then it fired up. I find the clutch is still stiff and will look at how that can be eased with after market slave / master cylinders. Suspension - interesting that Rainman found it too stiff initially, it was too soft in Touring for me and have now set front preload to one turn in and plus 2 on the rear and it feels great. I find default Sports is good for the road but maybe too soft for track (not that it bothers me), I found default Sports on the DVT to be too hard on our crap roads but the 1260 is better. I often "exercise the suspension" by going from endure to sport mode just to get the shocks working and to make sure they do still work across the entire range, I once had an Ohlin's rear shock get stuck in Urban mode! I have been running Road 5's from the start and they feel very good in all conditions so far - we will see how they wear! As already said the 1260 engine is awesome! Great bike!
Are the neutral issues where you are using the QS up and down? What kind of revs? I do wonder if, a tool designed for top end revs and faster changes, transmits well enough to road users at 3k revs use.
For me the neutral issue is when coming to a stop (traffic lights etc.) 2nd to first (i use the clutch) at low revs (sub 3K) and low speed and then getting neutral when at a stop in 1st Gear, getting neutral whilst rolling is easier but not always possible in traffic. No issues with false neutrals and the QS and i usually only use the QS from 2nd up and then on the way down to 2nd. I agree that the QS is at its best with higher revs and under load which is what most would want I assume.
I think every ducati I have ever owned has had issues with neutral at standstill. In fact, probably every bike tbh. My gixer can be a nightmare
The issue is when trying to select neutral when stationary with engine at idle revs. It was something that got picked up at the 1260 launch where a few journos noticed it. Ducati's response was that it is a short-term issue caused by the adjustment necessary to ensure that the shift from 2nd into 1st (which is a common issue with a lot of systems) was as good as all the other shifts, and that once the bike is run in then it shouldn't be a problem. From new, if the wheels are still just turning and you're just coating with the clutch in, it finds neutral easily every time. Just select it before you come to a stop, rather than after you've stopped - just until it's run in.
In 30 years of motorcycle I've never had a bike which flatly refused to go into neutral at standstill until the engine was stopped. It's not just a bit awkward to go into neutral - it's just completely impossible. My DVT wasn't an issue at all, neither was my MT-10SP, MT-10, MT-09 Tracer, Kawasaki Versys 1000, the four different Fazer 1000's or the four different YZF-R1, or the 916 all of which I've all had from brand new.
My 1260 has about 750 miles on now and its much better getting into netrual. As sugested above at first it was difficult and had to select before stopping. Give it some time. Its an expensive Ducati, you cant expect everything to work first time
I don't know what the fuss is about finding neutral, I ain't got a problem at all, I can find neutral anywhere in my gearbox
Another 'issue' I meant to mention in my follow-up about the new 1260, is an absolutely awful throttle response, particularly when backing-off and using engine braking, at around 30-40mph, when the bike 'hunts' like diesels used to, making the whole bike jerk back and forth, actually quite difficult to control. Could be quite a problem after one of my favourite curries, I don't know how easy it might be to clean off sag aloo from the handlebar risers I had the very same problem with my Skyhook version 2014 Pikes Peak, which was resolved at 1st service by a software update, which instantly dealt with it, so looking forward to the 600 miles check-in and a far smoother ride.
The "Ducati Throttle spacer kit" will supposedly reduce the problem. I emailed them for a kit for the 1260, no reply yet. https://panigaleheatshield.com/coll...s-2017-monster-supersport-xdiavel-multistrada
If you put one of these kits on your bike could you give us some feedback on how it works with the cruise control. I wonder if it will inter fear with the ability to roll off (reverse) the throttle to shut down the cruise
Hopefully, my guess is it works. Will try though. I find the brake, clutch and reverse throttle cruise shutoff to be quite unpleasant. The sudden loss of power coupled with hard engine breaking really makes the bike jump. I’ve started using the teqnique of matching throttle with bike speed and shutting the cruice off using the cruise button. A pity the restore speed function does not work when shutting cruise off and on again. Maybe mathcing throttle and touching the brake is a better solution. Will try tomorrow
Cruise: technique on my DVT that works for me. Open throttle a little to get close or match revs (not a blip, its not a lot under 80), dab rear brake, then press resume when ready. HTH
Yeah, works. Smooth transition off cruise. Though, when traffic slows down infront it is against my nature to feed on the throttle Ducati should be able to fix this softwarewise. All cars I've ridden with cruise gently cuts cruise off.
Given EBC on panigale I’m sure they could. But tbh I’d rather I controlled it. If it’s an obvious slow down, above if fine. If it’s a bit more sudden, I want to go straight to closed throttle and full engine braking.
Not had this problem on my 1260, there was a Bosch injection update at my 600 service some weeks ago, maybe that will fix it for you. So far fuelling and throttle response is perfect on mine.
I'm at my dealer on Saturday morning for them to diagnose my lack of upshifts on the QS. No doubt it will get hooked up to a laptop and I'll ask them to ensure that any updates are done as a matter of course. My first service was done a while ago but I've also noticed it so I'll let you know.
I always disengage the cruise by pulling in the clutch. That gives a quick spin up of the engine, and plenty of time to match the throttle response. Coming up on 10K miles on my DVT and I can say that the engine seems to be running better than ever. I think there is certainly some break-in with both motor and transmission. I have no problem finding neutral at this point, and false neutrals are fairly rare and typically me not being firm with my upshift (usually from 5 to 6).
