Ducati Monster Forum

Navy called and I am shipping out april 17th, my bike is put away for the winter but considering that it will be not until december 2012 at the earliest I get to ride it possibly december 2013, anything out of the ordinary that i need to do?  I plan on bringing it this march for a month and a half, just to enjoy riding her for a bit and then putting her up for a bit.  normally i do an oil change, stabilize the fuel, pull the battery and put it on stands.  The tires are brand new less then a 1000 miles on them and I am ready for the 12k service.  Are the tires gonna be ok after that long and should i do the service now or wait till im back, and any other things that you can think of?

The usual stuff.  I am sure you will find more info in this forum if you search.

rear and front stand - to avoid tire developing bubble on one spot

cover pipe with socks  - avoid bugs and shit from getting in  (trust me, i found mice nest on my air filters.  thank God they did not f up my electrical wires)

cover bike with bed sheet - indoor

battery - tender


not sure about what happens to bearings when bike not moved for extended period.  I will let the experienced ppl here chime.  Would be nice if you could get someone to atleast start the bike while on stand and put in gear and let the gears etc moving a bit.

First off thanks for your service [thumbsup]

For that extended period I would be more aggressive.  Skip the 12k service so you get new belts when you come back.  Fog the cylinders until it dies.  Drain the oil & leave it empty.  Oil laying around in the sump won't do much good.  Completely drain the gas and remove the filter.  Remove the battery.  Oil all bare metal parts. Cover intakes and exhausts as mentioned.

Before you get back order new plugs, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and battery.

Tires are iffy.  If you have the stands by all means use them, if not it may be more cost effective to get new tires.