burning smell while riding?

[teddy037.3]

so yesterday, I rode the bike to work. both to and from, I noticed a burning smell. not oil burny. has not been there prior to yesterday morning.  got home, ran the bike in N and looked/sniffed around. didn't see any melty wiring or drips/leaks/smokes. nothing. oil level was high, nothing weird by the batt under the seat.

ben thinks voltage regulator? when they go, is it internal?  new bike, btw... '11 HYM796, 1300 miles, on-time 1st service at the dealer.

only mods are mirrors, windscreen, pazzos, progrips, axle sliders, yoinked emission can (at service)

[zooom]

did you check your riding pants and boots?

[Raux]

put it on a rear stand,  put it in gear and see if your rear brake is binding.

[teddy037.3]

did you check your riding pants and boots?

yes, boots and pants were fine

put it on a rear stand,  put it in gear and see if your rear brake is binding.

would it randomly start to bind, though?  I haven't changed anything there.

[WTSDS]

If it is yer rear brake this may be of use -

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=46781.0

[supperduc]

Next time when you start her up, sniff around the timing belt covers.

[BK_856er]

I got a burning plastic smell a few times.  Checked my boots - nothing.  Checked for something touching the exhaust - nothing.  Figured it was a passing car or something.  Not much later I discovered a very melty R/R connector.  I only noticed it because I was removing the alternator cover and I needed to disconnect that connector.  From the outside I might not have noticed it.  Had to ultimately cut it apart because it was melted together.

BK

[teddy037.3]

R/R?

don't have a rear stand, but I will check the belts after work...

[zooom]

R/R?

REGULATOR/RECTIFIER......

but I think that componentry is different from his bike to yours...

[Howie]

The smell from a burning regulator is quite acrid, think burning plastic.

[TNWINESELLER]

so yesterday, I rode the bike to work. both to and from, I noticed a burning smell. not oil burny. has not been there prior to yesterday morning.  got home, ran the bike in N and looked/sniffed around. didn't see any melty wiring or drips/leaks/smokes. nothing. oil level was high, nothing weird by the batt under the seat.

ben thinks voltage regulator? when they go, is it internal?  new bike, btw... '11 HYM796, 1300 miles, on-time 1st service at the dealer.

only mods are mirrors, windscreen, pazzos, progrips, axle sliders, yoinked emission can (at service)

I rode my '11 Monster 796 yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks. Noticed the same burning smell. Chalked it up to not being ridden as i don't normally leave it sitting that long.

[teddy037.3]

REGULATOR/RECTIFIER......

but I think that componentry is different from his bike to yours...

ah... so BK is in the same boat as drkwng (ben, in op)... the part looks to be the same, just not mounted in the same way as the old monsters. it's out in front, right above the oil cooler

I rode my '11 Monster 796 yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks. Noticed the same burning smell. Chalked it up to not being ridden as i don't normally leave it sitting that long.

it had been sitting for over a week. but wasn't really uncommon in my case... if everything else I check turns out to be ok, then you were right 

[BK_856er]

Just to clarify, in my case it was not the R/R, but the connector on the pigtail to the R/R.  Those yellow wires from the alternator pass large current and tiny amounts of corrosion/resistance at the connector spades can generate lots of heat.  Ducati might have addressed this already in the modern bikes - I'm not too familiar with them.  But don't rule out high-current connectors in your investigations.

BK

[CrashAstern]

Just my two cents, it could be dust burning off the exhaust and other hot components on the bike...

...at least that's what I assumed it was when I had experienced a similar odor    hopefully that's all it was, for either of us.

It didn't smell like melting plastic or insulation (wiring) to me - and the bike /was/ dusty, and it went away after a ride or two/wiping it off.

Hope that helps!

[OT]

I presume it only smelled when you were stopped, not riding at speed?

Check to see that all the lights, especially the headlight (hi and lo), are working while the bike is running.  The ground wire inside my headlight shorted out on the metal housing and burned; I experienced the problem and started smelling it when I arrived back home, after the 15 mile ride from the gym, in the dark, on an unlit road, with no headlights...   I wouldn't have noticed it during daylight hours without the smell...duh.