Ducati Monster - Winter Oil Temperature!

[V90]

The air-cooled engines run too cold in the winter which can cause condensation in the oil. This shows as a white deposit on the oil sight glass. Many people say this is normal although that just means it often happens. It certainly isn't good for the engine because water in the oil can cause corrosion.
Condensation will not happen if the oil can be kept above 85°C and what I've done on my M1000 is to fit a cardboard cover. A fully synthetic oil is ok for 150°C so don't worry about leaving the cover on until summer arrives. I don't mean run it constantly at that temp but it's ok to hit it occasionally. I like to see mine between 100°C and 120°C though.
My cover was made from a 'Bonio' dog biscuit packet. If you don't have a dog .............why not? Dogs are great friends.
So far, this site appears to favour these race rep things covered with plastic panels, but the Monster has kept Ducati from going bust.
The Monster is a great bike so anyone with a Monster who is browsing but hasn't joined yet - you're not alone so come on in!
(More posts specific to Monsters to follow)

[Brian]

Interesting

There are other members on here with Monsters like Jools & Jinks but we havent seen them on the site for a while

[Dan]

Great info V90..... Come on you Monsters! Duke meets aren't the same without ya!

[DrBob]

I've never had that problem this winter with my aircooled 1000 after the bike had somework done to it. The temperature has always been around 110°. The Monster didn't run that hot in summer, any ideas what might be causing it to run that hot?

Also I seem to remember reading in the owners manual that the bike turns itself off at 170°.

[V90]

Well, the oil temperature will depend on a combination of the ambient temp and the driving conditions. If it's only say 5°C ambient and you are in slow moving traffic the oil temp will reach 100°C ok, but get onto the open road and the oil temp will quickly drop to under 80°C.
The highest oil temp I've seen was on the run to Brighton from the Ace last Sept when the ambient was probably about 18°C and on the ride down the oil temp was around 100°C. Once we reached Brighton it was a very slow crawl in 1st & 2nd gear and the oil temp did reach 150°C.
The high oil-temp light comes on at 170°C but I haven't read that the bike turns off. That temp is getting towards the point where the crank bearings will not have enough oil pressure and I previously said 150°C to give a decent safety margin. I'm a bit surprised that Ducati have such a high temp for oil warning really. The synthetic oil itself will probably start to deteriorate nearer 200°C.

[jyncks]

Hey Guys

I'm still here, just been busy decorating.......sorry......but i have been out on the bike every chance i got......honest

Lets big it up for the monsters out there.....no plastic crap for us, we got neck muscles like geoff capes....
so dont mess with us...
J x

[harriebird]

i've got a 748 but i think monsters look so cool.

i really like the silver ones with the black stripes, sorry to be girlie but i'm not sure which one it is!

[V90]

Originally Posted by harriebird

i've got a 748 but i think monsters look so cool.
i really like the silver ones with the black stripes, sorry to be girlie but i'm not sure which one it is!

We could have a convert here guys & gals Good choice Harriebird - S2R1000 - Very cool 8)

[harriebird]

why thank you :wink:

[Tony]

I think monsters are cool.

if the right deal came along I could easily end up with one.

how would I cope 2 dukes

[BaggaZee]

So do I. I do love a faired bike but if I could have a second, I'd definitely look at a Monster. 8)

[jamesguschi]

Originally Posted by V90

The air-cooled engines run too cold in the winter which can cause condensation in the oil. This shows as a white deposit on the oil sight glass. Many people say this is normal although that just means it often happens. It certainly isn't good for the engine because water in the oil can cause corrosion.
Condensation will not happen if the oil can be kept above 85°C and what I've done on my M1000 is to fit a cardboard cover. A fully synthetic oil is ok for 150°C so don't worry about leaving the cover on until summer arrives. I don't mean run it constantly at that temp but it's ok to hit it occasionally. I like to see mine between 100°C and 120°C though.

Talking about Oil Temperature. When I start my 999 up and allow it to get warm (i wait until the gauge stops flashing at least). That is the water Temp, Is it not? How do I find out what the Oil Temp. is? Or are they both the same? This may sound silly to you.
When I came back from Alvins after picking up my Duke with a new Oil Cooler on it. The guage never went above 69-70C and that was at 70-80mph. Mind you it was absolutely bitterly cold that day.
V90. I remember someone answered a post a while ago about frothy Oil it might have been yourself.

[harriebird]

Originally Posted by Tony

how would I cope 2 dukes

pardon? you'll have to speak up a bit! i think that's how you'll have to cope, you'll be deaf as a post!

[V90]

You do have a point there Harriebird – my next door neighbour hasn’t been quite the same since I got my Remus cans.
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Jim, I understand that on your very COMPLICATED :wink: water-cooled engine that the water temperature display stops flashing at 46°C. The oil temperature always lags behind the water temperature though so will be lower than this at this point. There are two reasons for this: Firstly the thermal conductivity of water is the highest of any liquid so it’s good stuff to use as a coolant. That means that heat flows into water faster than it will flow into oil. Secondly, not only does the water jacket surround the hot part of the engine, i.e. the upper part of the cylinder and the cylinder head, but the water is not circulated until the thermostat reaches its opening temperature, which is at least 82°C. I think the temperature sensor is in the cylinder head but as I’ve got a very SIMPLE :wink: air-cooled engine I don’t know for sure. Now you’ve got that VERY EXPENSIVE :wink: workshop manual perhaps you can confirm the thermostat opening temperature and position of the sensor? The thermostat works over a range, so that if it is designated as
82°C then that means it starts to open at that temperature but will be fully open at perhaps 88°C (guess)

What this means is that the water temperature will soon increase but the oil temperature will take longer for several reasons: Firstly the thermal conductivity is lower than that of water; not very much of the oil is in contact with the hot bits (as a percentage of the total oil volume at any one time) and finally, there is no thermostat in the oil circuit. With my air-cooled engine all the flow goes through the cooler but I don’t know about yours. It may be the same, or the oil-cooler circuit may be in parallel with the crank bearing circuit – some engines are plumbed like this. No doubt you can find the oil circuit in your VERY EXPENSIVE :wink: workshop manual and verify this.

So, the oil temperature will eventually end up at a similar temperature as the water but will take longer. You must resist thrashing the bollocks off your engine until the oil is up to operating temperature and you want to know when that is? If you had got a bike like mine, with a SIMPLE :wink: air-cooled engine, you would have that information displayed. There is an oil-temp gauge available that screws into the oil-filler plug but I don’t know if one is made to fit your engine. It does fit the Monster engines and is made by a company ‘Moto Detail’ This particular one shown below only goes to 140°C and should be a bit higher for the air-cooled engine in my opinion.
Your recorded water temp of 70°C seems a bit low to me because, despite the low ambient, I would have thought the thermostat would close down to restrict the flow and maintain the operating temperature. If the thermostat fails ‘open’ then you would definitely see a low operating temperature though. Perhaps other people with COMPLICATED :wink: water-cooled engines can comment?
About ‘frothy oil’ – I don’t remember commenting but it doesn’t sound a good thing to have really. The bearings want oil not air. 'Frothy' is very good if you're making omelettes of course.

[Spikey]

bring back the good old days , crack up the kh 250 and thrash the b*llox off it well there wer,nt any gagues to tell me not to !!!!

" spikey "