Ducati Monster Forum

I know that there are better methods with greater detail for indoor winter storage (i.e. battery tender etc.) but seems my buddys here in the states seem to advocate almost empty tank and run it every two weeks for 20min where as the boys I know up in Canada say its best to leave the tank all the way full and dont run it at all (albeit with a battery tender). Thoughts and votes please.

Both of your choices stink

There are plenty of threads about this on the board.

It doesn't take too much work to properly store it so it is perfect when you take it out.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=49764.msg910321#msg910321 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=49764.msg910321#msg910321)

If it's indoor, as in 'in the house', that'd be fantastic.  Since I'm guessing it's an air cooled Duc, you have simplicity on your side.

In the fall, change to fresh oil, filter.  Fill tank but add Sta-Bil marine formula to combat the dreaded ethanol's effects.  Run the bike until warm to get the fuel into the injectors etc.  Pull plugs, and fog cylinders with fogging oil.  Pull battery and leave hooked up to tender or equivalent. You can use track stands on both wheels to minimize flat spots on tires if you like.

Maybe toss a cover or old bedsheet on the bike for the duration of the winter and hibernate until the frost clears in the springtime.  It's worked flawlessly for me the last 15 years.

Fill it up. Add some stabul. Hook up battery tender.

Do not use Stabil or Startron for storage.  Use them to "refresh" old fuel if you must, and its cheaper to make your own.

Directly from the MSDS:

StarTron:    >95% 64742-96-7 (Solvent Naphtha)
Stabil regular:  >95% 64742-47-8 (Kerosene)
Stabil Marine:  80% 64742-47-8 (Kerosene), 20% "additive mixture"


I can email you the MSDS sheets for these.  As well as K100, I have a 3rd party review of it.

K-100:  30-45% Ethelyne Glycol (coolant), 30-40% butyl alcohol, 15-20% alkyl alcohol, 5-10% Alkenoic acid, 4-7% secondary amine

Neither Stabil nor Startron have done 3rd party testing.

It's best to drain the tank completely, pull it off the bike, and set it on a shelf to air out.

Take the battery out of the bike and stash it someplace relatively warm and then hook the tender up.

Some change the oil out for winter storage, then change it again in the spring. That's too many oil changes, especially if you use good synthetic oil to begin with. I change the oil in the spring; the dirty oil sits in the sump anyway and will not hurt anything at all.

Clean the bike well (I never used water to wash my bike, only WD40 for the hard parts and plastic polish for the body parts), keep it covered and in a garage, preferably on a front and rear stand. Do this and you will never have corrosion issues and your bike will remain as new. I never understood why anyone would want to wash a motorcycle with water, and some are even foolish enough to wash with a pressure washer. That and riding in a downpour will cause electrical problems. BMW GS might be able to handle it but Ducs don't do very well.

Move to California.   Today it was 72 degrees here, just north of Santa Barbara, and even though my S4 is turning into a push start only bike (for right now at least), I still try to ride it every day.   Beats riding my wife's Sportster.   Hell, riding my Honda CT-70 is better than riding the Sportster.  Almost the same power, too.

you know us midwesterners are having a heat wave right now 55 yesterday and 45 today.  one of my ridin buddies got himself a trophy yesterday for doing 77 in a 45. unfortunately i had to work or i would have one to.

I don't know about that.  It's necessary to get the treated fuel into the injectors, seals, etc and keep it there during storage.  Dried seals (from draining fuel system etc) could adversely affect the seals.  Untreated fuel could get gummy in the fuel delivery system.  So keeping treated fuel, full tank etc seems to have led to the best results for me.  I'd rather not try an alternate.

There is nothing wrong with water washing a bike.  Nothing.  It's validated to be able to ride through rain (water) and wiring looms, fuel systems and electrical components are designed to be water proof.  But I agree, power washing isn't smart.  It only invites the possibility of pushing water through seals and into bearings and electrical components.

I have an equally OCD method of washing, drying and detailing a bike prior to storage.  1)  wash bike with S-100 except for the area near the gauges and airbox.  Be sure you're in a shaded area.  Low pressure garden hose, cool water to rinse.  Run your bare hand over the surfaces to make sure you're rinsing off all the soap.  You can use a soft paintbrush to get into the hard to get areas and wash out the road grime.  2) dry large areas with towels.  3)  dry nooks and crannies with compressed air and soft paintbrush to 'chase' out the water from the small areas.  4) follow up with WD-40 in those nooks and crannies which chase out H2O and prevents rust.  5) Wax or detail bodywork  6)  lube and tension chain  7)  enjoy cold beer

Im sure there are a MILLION better things you can do. But this guy is probably asking for the simplest. Not everyone is handy or even has a set of decent tools at their disposal.  or maybe were just lazy.

I have done this for 15 years.. its worked on everyt JAP bike ive owned.. and hopefully this year it will work just as well on my ducati!

1. fill up fuel tank.
2. add the correct amount of stabil
3. run for 3 to 5 mins
4. turn offf bike.
5. connect battery tender.
6. come back in 3 months. Then end.

If you have a plastic tank, you should not leave it filled. 

Stabil is crap.  Look up the MSDS.  Kerosene and naphtha.  Save yourself money and leave it alone.  If you have to use something K100 is the only third-party tested product to be shown to work.

Would you suggest leaving the plastic tank empty if ethanol free pump gas is available? 

I ride all year so Stabil for the bike is not an issue.  Experience with my lawn mower says spring start up is easier.  As far as Stabil protecting your plastic tank, i agree, it won't.

Haha.. trophy!

I would say if ethanol free gas is available that the risk is lower, but not eliminated.  Gasoline still absorbs some water, just far less than ethanol.  I would still drain it. 

I put a QD on one of my gas lines and made a drain line with a female QD on a hose.  I just put the hose in a gas can and then onto the male QD on the gas tank. 

Stabil is good for refreshing old gas and it's fine for running thru the gas in the bike so you have some in the fuel system (well, the injectors?), but for storing gas in a plastic tank, nuh uh. 

For the record, I DO use stabil in my lawnmower -- I don't care about moisture in the tank, and I am just doing it for the startup advantage, but I wouldn't count on it for long-ish term storage of my bike.

It definitely increases the octane of fuel to make it burn better after it's gotten "stale."  But using it in a Ducati plastic tank to protect from moisture is a bad idea.  Drain it.

 I will have to look for this product, I use stabil in my bike and lawn equipment and it seems to work as was posted already.

 Back to the OP, since I'm here in sunny California, I tried using the starting the bike every so often method, but those few times I forgot to start the bike when it was really cold was enough to kill the battery.

 I currently use stabil and a battery tender until winter sets in here for those few months and then I remove the battery and set it on the bench with a charger.

My issue with Stabil isn't that it doesn't work at all.  It does -- for refreshing stale gasoline and preventing lacquer from forming on parts -- gasoline dries and leaves a residue that is very hard to remove.

However, people want to use it to prevent the tank deformation problem and it won't help that.  Storing your bike with a full tank of fuel is not a problem if you have a METAL tank.  Adding stabil will provide some advantage to the fuel remaining "good" when you go to start it months later.

However, with a PLASTIC tank, Stabil offers NOTHING and in fact, since it contains isopropanol (alcohol) as an additive could even make the deformation problem worse since the isopropanol will introduce more water moisture into your tank.

K100 has been tested by third parties for water dissipation and retention and it does what it says.  Stabil's claim of helping with water is a chemical change in the nature of the gasoline so it burns the water, but it doesn't prevent it from separating.

Interesting, I was wondering why you were so vehemently opposed to Sta-Bil.

Can you suggest a method to preserve seals, gaskets etc from drying or varnishing during storage?  Fuel additives have done right by me so I was wondering what your take would be.

Have a look at the FAQ on the Sta-bil site. Usually I agree with tiz's take on things but not this one. Red Sta-bil will maintain the volatility of fuel to a great extent for about a year so long as it's added to fresh gas. As the FAQ states, it will not revive fuel which has started to turn, nor will it remove water from fuel once phase separation has occurred.

Since ~ 1973 I've stored with full tanks containing Sta-bil and never had a problem with rust, seals, carbs or injectors. Once those parts are exposed to fuel, I'd never leave them dry for months at a time. That's just asking for trouble IMO. Never had any water in the bottom of my tanks either but do store in a dry, insulated garage with a sealed floor and above 40 F for the most part. This storage tactic has also worked well since 1995 for two collector vehicles I own which never see salt.

Would like to see tiz's "hard copy" on the K-100 3rd party test though as I have an open mind to anything new which is proven to work!

William, I tried to clarify my attitude about stabil above -- it's not the "fuel stability" properties I am skeptical of, it is the attempt to use Stabil to prevent water ingression into the nylon tanks.  For that purpose it is crap, you might as well put paint thinner in the tank.

There are two issues here:

1.  Fuel stability and aiding storage.

2.  Preventing water ingression by the gas tank.

Stabil works fine for #1

It does not work for #2 and may make the problem worse due to ingredient isopropanol (alcohol) since alcohol is a contributing factor as to why we are having problems iwth the tanks.

I'll send you the K100 study to your email.

Thanks for the pdf! The K-100 does appear to encapsulate a certain quantity of water while having little negative impact on the fuel. The only negative might be the compatibility with other stabilizers and in older machinery, the sludge and contaminants K-100 might release. I'd want to run a couple of tanks of pure gas through the bike in season before switching over and build up to the recommended concentration gradually.

On other related threads I've mentioned that I did not feel that Sta-bil would resolve the water issue in PA-6 tanks. Above I mainly wanted to point out that Sta-bil won't refresh fuel which has lost volatility and started to varnish. The FAQ clearly states this.

As for protecting components, never had to replace a diaphragm in a CV Bing carb which is really saying something. All my pals inevitably did.  ;)

As for the isopropanol, since (1) fl. oz. of Sta-bil treats 5 US Gal., the concentration is minuscule. In fact, pure gas detergent additive packages may well contain more alcohols. There has got to be a HUGE difference between a trace concentration of alcohols vs a full 10% of ethanol. Nasty..., and the ultimate waste and boondoggle... :'(

Anyway, as long as the PA-6 tank issue really is caused by H2O and not alcohols themselves... Do we know this for a fact?

Has anyone with a PEX tank ever experienced issues from running E-5, etc., etc.?

Best Regards!

This is based on several things:

1.  Manufacturers of PA6 and other polyamides state that Nylon-6 is impervious to alcohol.  Meanwhile, they state that it absorbs water.  There are plenty of "material compatibility sheets" on the web.

2.  I set up a test in my garage using a tank from a monster.  It was a virgin tank.  I made a cabinet which used a dehumidifer rod and about 5 lbs of silica gel dry packs keeping the ambient humidity around 5%.  I filled the gas tank with E85 fuel and left it for 2 months.  No result.

3.  I duplicated the test above but with 50% humidity and E10 gas with a separate tank.  After 40 days, the tank showed about 5% expansion in circumference.

4.  I took a used tank which was replaced from a crashed vehicle.  It had no significant damage except for some cosmetic rash on the right side.  I heated 1 gal of water to 100 deg F and put it in the tank.  The tank swelled overnight to about 10% of the original circumference.

I cannot fully eliminate ethanol as directly interacting with the plastic, however, I felt 2 months was sufficient exposure to E85 to show some sign of interaction if there was any.  In the Minnesota E20 test, they only used E20 and exposed the samples over a span of days and it showed expansion HOWEVER that test was using a protocol which required ambient humidity of 50% +/-5%.


I've been talking with ppl overseas with these tanks and none have.  Chris' tanks at CA Cycleworks are PEX and there is no expansion reported.

Thanks! That H2O is the culprit would appear reasonably conclusive, given any "normal" tank usage! Thanks for the PEX info as well. I'll grab a back-up from the EC at my leisure.

So I have a 2005 Monster 620 Dark. I did receive "the" letter regarding the class action lawsuit for Monsters made during certain years and my year was listed. I thought my tank was metal as magnets do stick to it but after getting the letter I started wondering if it was plastic inside of metal. Does anyone know a way to find out for sure if my tank is metal or plastic? It would seem logical that if it is plastic I shouldnt leave the tank full all winter due to the possible effects of the ethanol on plastic tanks.

magnets will stick to the SIDE of the tank?

not plastic.