Ducati Monster Forum

Ok i'll admit it, I was being a plonker......I decided tonight to really give my M796 some gas, second gear, went to overtake, dialed in the revs and glanced down when it was near 7k rpms...thought fine, still got some ways to go..focus on the road ahead.

BAM!  [bang] ...I had no idea this bike had such a low rev ceiling! Seriously, what was Ducati thinking. I read about the lights flashing to indicate you need to shift, but to suddenly flash and a millisecond later have the engine decide it almost wants to go in reverse...ouch!

So for anyone else not yet experienced the ball busting wonder of an over-revved monster...don;t go past 8k  [evil]

Lights? ha.  ;D

What do you mean go in reverse? You hit the rev limiter? I do that EVERY DAY!   :P Seriously though, not a terribly big issue to hit the limiter.

Can't over rev - it's got a limiter. While it's a bit harsh that it cuts ignition to prevent over rev, it works.

Sounds like you've just got to learn the ways of your duc. I cannot recall a time when in a situation like yours where I looked at the revs. My ears/feel of the bike tell me if I've got more to go. Granted, I've had my 900 linger than the 796 has existed as a model line.

But one should not be counting on blinky lights or staring at the tach.

Not trying to be critical or harsh - just seems that you need to spend some more time getting to know the song of your Duc  [Dolph]

You should bang it off that rev limiter daily.

Giggity.

 [coffee]

True guys, I need to learn my duc's song with greater intimacy, I've had the 796 for 4 months nearly, and done 4.3k miles, but she is my first duc- I've so far just been marveling at her cornering ability; not since I owned my RS125 and RVF have I been able to lean so far into corners at such speed.

For what it's worth I don't actually observe the revs too often, just recently started in a bid to notice the where i'm at in relation to the noise/speed  [cheeky]

More rides me thinks and more thrashings, think i've been a little too precious of the engine so far.

From what I remember of my 796 and it's relation of rpm's to noise speed...

0-4000 - Lumpy
4000-6000 - Comfy
6000-8000 - When the song starts
8000 - When the song ends, change gears to get to the next chorus  [thumbsup]

Oh yeah the limiter,  :-\ damn thing always hits right when its getting good. Really need to get a tune and have it raised a just a bit.

An excellent summary. Easy to follow. I'm still limited to 6000 until my 600-mile service at the end of the month, but I will remember this 4-step plan.  [thumbsup]

The rev limiter always makes it difficult to wheelie my lil Monster.

Doesn't the exhaust upgrade kit with the ECU remove the rev limiter?

Mine stops at 8500
900 w/ pod filters and mivv pipes

It bumps it up, but it's still there.

I was under the impression everything has a rev limiter.

Well, as long as it's got rods, it's got rod bolts.  :P

Well, yes - but those are also call critical points of mechanical stress failure. All the EFI ducs to have an ignition cut-out limiter.
 
But older carbie bikes with no brain could be pushed past the recommended RMP ceiling. OF course that's at your own peril as too much of that and bits stop being connected like the should.

Also, many times peak power is achieved before the limiter  so anything past peak power and you're losing out and and the next gear will be better.

Look at some dyno graphs and you'll see it go up-up-up and right before the lines stop it goes over the hump and heads down again.

but since the OP was talking 796, I assumed fuel injection. I realize everything will eventually spin out of control. It's happening now with me (slowly)

I would just listen and feel for the bike, and not look at the tach.

i'm curious, have you previously ridden mostly i4's?

If you are asking me, then no. I've only had mine 900. Not counting the 125 I had 35 years ago. I really don't pay any attention to my tach unless I'm trying to figure out speed at a particular rpm.
I just shift when it sounds right.

ive hit about 8000 rpm, can i hit it till 11000? rpm? i ride a 620 dark 2005

Nope - you've missed the fundamentals of the discussion perhaps.
1) Your bike has an electronic limiter that kicks in some place just beyond 8000.
2) More Revs /= more better, especially going that high.
   - After a point the engine will produce less power. Generally the Rev limit and engine tune are set to work together. The limit being set at a point just beyond the point where power starts to drop off.
   - Too high an RPM in and engine not designed for it is a good way to destroy it. I'd wager that if you managed to run a 620 engine up to 11,000 RPMs via messing with the electronics, it would be a lesson on critical mechanical failure.

everyone should seek out the rev limiter (in a safe and controlled situation.) this will achieve two things.
1- you will know what it feels like, and not panic when/if you hit it by mistake
2- you will know where it is, which is pretty important because you don't want to bang up against it when you still need to be accelerating
 

no, i was addressing the OP.
My unscientific research has shown me I4 riders have trouble riding twins because they want to wring the thing's neck out.  No amount of me trying to explain it helped, they only learned that docs are 'junk' because of an 8k rev limiter.

+1

I hit the limiter on my 999 in first gear by accident... 

I was pulling out onto a two lane highway, across traffic.  The speed limit there is 55, but people routinely do 70ish...  Luckily for me, the Triple-9 has a TALL first gear!  ;)

It was almost as if I head a BANG in my head when it cut out...  But I think that was just my chest, then my chin, hitting the tank!  I didn't panic, but it certainly got my attention!!!  :o

Find your limiter when you're expecting it... not in a real world situation...  [thumbsup]




 [bacon]

Is it hard on stuff if you hit the limiter to often ? I dont't hit mine often, usually shift around 6 - 7800 ish.

Nah. that's the purpose of it. As long as you're not riding the limiter for extended periods, hitting it shouldn't make no nevermind

Depends on who you ask, and how often you hit it I think. It's a fairly violent affair in Ducs compared to I-4s.

My 749 racebike has a broken crankshaft, and it previously had a spun crank bearing (crank itself was OK after that...although it may have been damaged internally and we couldn't tell). It has been suggested that hitting the rev limiter too often may have contributed to the problem. When I get it back I will be putting a big piece of red tape on the tach. at 10,500 rpm to help keep me from doing it again. It may not have caused the failure, but it surely didn't help.

the other important take away here is that there is NO REASON to be regularly bouncing of the rev limiter on a duc! but the time you hit it, you are way past the top of the power curve... = less power.

once you learn where it is, shift accordingly and stay away from it.

When swapping out an ECU to a DP RACE ECU will the limiter change its cut in range ?

Depends on the bike, I know that the 696 goes up, but not for the 796/1100

And I know that running a duc at high revs is a bad idea.  It's why they dont run ducs during the IOM TT... that kind of constant high rpm racing suppsedly kills duc engines.

Hahaha, this reminds me of my motocross days, when the 4 strokes started coming in, on two strokes especially 125's you wring its neck and pretty much control power with the clutch. Kids coming off 125's and riding 250F, poor dads(of fast kids) were rebuilding clutches and engines almost every race! Anyhow, when I finally got my YZ250F, which actually revved higher than a 125, if you believe it, I had to learn to ride it different, going off jump faces, you didn't dare chop the throttle or you were going for nose dive(an experience I had when I brake tapped and stalled it mid air, lucky I had a good trajectory for the landing). Rev limiters cut all forward momentum, and in the dirt, where one's body position is usually forward when on the gas, it throws you forward, YOU KNOW IT!! I thought I'd share this one.  [Dolph]

Whoaaa, hold up.  I have been going about this all wrong---usually shifting around 4500rpm.  Didn't know I was missing such sweet music. [immediately runs outside to ride bike, front door left ajar, water boiling on stove...]

To be fair, this is my first Duc (got it 3 weeks ago).  My other bike is a 78 Honda that is ALWAYS at its tach limit 'cause that engine has seen better days (plus it's just damn fun!).

Thanks, folks.  Learn something every day.

Hard rev limiters do suck.  Though I remember once on my M600 with no limiter trying to ge through a yellow light and hitting over 12,000 rpm.  I upshifted and it came into the power like a turbo when it spools up, not what I was expecting at all  [laugh]

i love the "accidently hit my rev limiter"...

I keep my 620 over 6K at all times, and my 916 over 5K. They just don't run quite right below those points, I feel like if I let them spend too much time down there the engines will rip themselves apart...

I would think the reason they don't is the ducs before the 1199 just didnt have the top end pull for the sustained higher speeds