Glowing Header and Burning Plastic Smell - Hypermotard 698 Mono

Had my Hyper 698 for two weeks now. just put 600 miles on it. I Love it.

While riding the moto yesterday i noticed the header pipe started glowing bright red very shortly into the ride and there was a smell like burning plastic. I have never noticed this happening before.

My wife was riding the bike at the time and I was riding beside her on my 450 sumo. I thought maybe she was just riding first and second gear the whole time and maybe the high RPMs plus the slow speeds around town in traffic caused it. so on the way home we switched and i rode the mono. It was very dark out at that point and I noticed the plastic smell again right away and the pipe started glowing bright red within a minute after startup. I tried gaining speed as easily and efficiently as possible and basically gliding after that to let the wind cool the pipe. Nothing i did helped it just kept getting brighter and brighter.

Nothing has been done to the bike. Never dropped. Never modified. Just started doing this out of the blue.

The weather temperature was in the high 50s F.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm taking it to the dealer later to talk to them and get the first service.

Also had a screw rattle out of the heat shield and there is some discoloration on top of the bolts on the heat shield.

wow

Please share what you find.

Only thing I can suggest is to ensure there is enough coolant AND ensure there are no air bubbles in the radiator. Open the radiator cap when it is cold and gently rock side to side to burp the radiator. Also ensure the fan is working. Not sure if these will help with the header glowing issue but won't hurt.

I doubt that has anything to do with engine cooling. It looks like combustion well into the exhaust pipe, and must be due to incorrect fueling or possibly the exhaust valve being held open too long. That needs to be sorted very quickly before you ride again!

Welcome to the forum. Happy to hear you love the Hyper, and bummer about your recent problems...

DolphinFarts said:

I'm taking it to the dealer later to talk to them and get the first service.

Click to expand...

When is your first service scheduled? What did the dealer say?

I would advise taking your Hyper back to the dealer and let them sort out what's going on. It's going to be covered under the warranty, and it's good to have the problem documented, especially since it's happening during the break-in period, so that Ducati will take care of you in the future if a bigger problem happens that stems from this issue.

Let us know what the dealer says!

Took it in for its first service and the dealer said it wasn’t anything to worry about. They said “hypermotards don’t like to sit still or go slow.” That it was just probably sitting still too long and running at too high and rpm when my wife was riding it possibly.
I haven’t seen it get that bright red again, but it does glow red at night sometimes. But only if it’s really dark.
I had a 939 hyper and it did run hot. But I don’t remember ever having a bike that the header glows on consistently with every ride at night.

I have 1500 miles on the bike now and love it. I have been running it hard and it hasn’t skipped a beat, but I have thought about having another dealer check it out.

When I first got it the coolant was overfilled and would come out during rides for the first few rides. Until it got in the actual fill range.

The glowing headers wouldn't bother me, but I would continue to be cautious if you continue to smell burning anything...

The good thing is you had the dealer look into it during the break in period and first service inspection, which is the point of this inspection, and it documents the problem because if this continues to happen in the future, it will always be covered under the manufacturer warranty.

That said, it never hurts to have another dealer look into it for a second opinion.

Just curious, do you plan any upgrades to your Hyper? If you swap out the exhaust and header pipes, I would just make sure there is no secondary problems so its never an issue in the future...

duc said:

The glowing headers wouldn't bother me, but I would continue to be cautious if you continue to smell burning anything...

The good thing is you had the dealer look into it during the break in period and first service inspection, which is the point of this inspection, and it documents the problem because if this continues to happen in the future, it will always be covered under the manufacturer warranty.

That said, it never hurts to have another dealer look into it for a second opinion.

Just curious, do you plan any upgrades to your Hyper? If you swap out the exhaust and header pipes, I would just make sure there is no secondary problems so its never an issue in the future...

Click to expand...

I am waiting on the full “race” exhaust and the new upmap to come in.
It will be interesting to see if it still happens with the more free flowing exhaust.

The 698 runs as hot as (or hotter than) my 2016 KTM 690 Enduro R, but the burnt plastic smells were gone by about 400 miles. For the record, I never had any such smells with the KTM.

Braaapster said:

The 698 runs as hot as (or hotter than) my 2016 KTM 690 Enduro R, but the burnt plastic smells were gone by about 400 miles. For the record, I never had any such smells with the KTM.

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Burning plastic smell is gone.

Header is still very much glowing on every ride. No problems other than that.
New race Termi exhaust is on the bike and it is much better down low in the rpm’s like a proper thumper.

DolphinFarts said:

:
New race Termi exhaust is on the bike and it is much better down low in the rpm’s like a proper thumper.

Click to expand...

So I need to pound CAD$4400 into a full Termi system? G'dammit. The Wings slip-on for my 690 (with implicit cat delete) was only about $500, and the official KTM remap was only about $200.

Anybody seen any dyno runs with the full Termi posted on YT?

haven’t seen any dyno runs yet, but wheelies from down low in the rpm’s feel proper after the exhaust went on.
It felt pretty anemic below 10mph before. Coming from a 450 sumo track bike it was disappointing.

Lots of popping on decel even with the tune. Popping everywhere.

DolphinFarts said:

View attachment 4600

Had my Hyper 698 for two weeks now. just put 600 miles on it. I Love it.

While riding the moto yesterday i noticed the header pipe started glowing bright red very shortly into the ride and there was a smell like burning plastic. I have never noticed this happening before.

My wife was riding the bike at the time and I was riding beside her on my 450 sumo. I thought maybe she was just riding first and second gear the whole time and maybe the high RPMs plus the slow speeds around town in traffic caused it. so on the way home we switched and i rode the mono. It was very dark out at that point and I noticed the plastic smell again right away and the pipe started glowing bright red within a minute after startup. I tried gaining speed as easily and efficiently as possible and basically gliding after that to let the wind cool the pipe. Nothing i did helped it just kept getting brighter and brighter.

Nothing has been done to the bike. Never dropped. Never modified. Just started doing this out of the blue.

The weather temperature was in the high 50s F.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm taking it to the dealer later to talk to them and get the first service.

Also had a screw rattle out of the heat shield and there is some discoloration on top of the bolts on the heat shield.

Click to expand...

Mine does the same thing; I figured the smell is just the new engine paint curing. However I was alarmed to see the pipe glowing after warming the bike up after its first wash. It was only running for 30 seconds or so. The heat shield discoloration is the same as you describe.

Wiggum said:

Mine does the same thing; I figured the smell is just the new engine paint curing. However I was alarmed to see the pipe glowing after warming the bike up after its first wash. It was only running for 30 seconds or so. The heat shield discoloration is the same as you describe. View attachment 4734

Click to expand...

Been told by two Ducati dealers that this is normal now.

It’s not my favorite thing that it glows. But the bike goes vroom vroom real good and wheelies so I’m rolling with it until it blows.


Does anyone have a hypermono that doesn’t glow?
That would concern me more at this point.

DolphinFarts said:

Been told by two Ducati dealers that this is normal now.

It’s not my favorite thing that it glows. But the bike goes vroom vroom real good and wheelies so I’m rolling with it until it blows.


Does anyone have a hypermono that doesn’t glow?
That would concern me more at this point.

Click to expand...

Yessir, thanks for sharing. That’s good to know. I’m also rolling with it until it blows (well said!). I haven’t had a chance to say hello in the forum. I just joined as I found some of you guys had the same issues as me. The bike is really a blast. I probably had the most fun ever at a track day with it. For me it’s the most enjoyable bike I’ve had in 45 years of riding. But the bike may have a few quirks that need addressing. Thanks.