Ducati Monster Forum

Anyone ever tried to install an oil heater on their monster? Got home yesterday after three months away (and bike on batt tender) and couldn't get it started to go on a New Year's Day ride. :cry

It's been hard to start cold ever since I put the FCRs on.  I know if it was warmer I'd would start right up. When I lived in CO I had an block heater in my BMW2002 and it was sweet. Not only would it start right up in the coldest weather, but the heater would be toasty in about 45 seconds. :thumb

What weight oil was in there?

I realize that isn't your preferred solution.

You might look into a dipstick type heater, but I doubt you'll find one that will fit the threads in the Duc case, or be short enough.

A different solution would be a magnetic heater. You'd have to tape it or wedge it between the cases and the exhaust.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BOABS6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000BO74DG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=09R5M61ZSZHQ2B65RAQK (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BOABS6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000BO74DG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=09R5M61ZSZHQ2B65RAQK)

Isn't that a cold air problem more than a cold oil problem?

Depends how fast and how long it will crank.

If it's cranking at normal speeds it could be a lean condition due to the FCR's lack of a choke.

Fresh fuel, fuel tap ok,etc?
How cold does it get there?
It would rarely reach 40°F here in winter and I have to give more squirts of the accelerator pump in our mild winters. Depending on the temp, determines the number of squirts.

Pretty sure he's in NY.

It gets much colder than 40...it's about 31 right now there. ;)

It's 19 at my place right now.

Don't know what might happen when it gets cold. :P

in cold climates, I have heard of people putting an electric blanket over the bike to help warm it for the occasional dispatch out to use between cold slumbers....

That's the best idea yet.  Or perhaps a heating pad and a couple of bungies to hold it up against the case. 
Yeah, NYC Cold on New Years Day.  I realized today (well, I didn't. The Duc guru helpin me did) that when last I bought a battery, somehow I got sold a 9mah battery instead of the proper 19 Mah one. [bang]
The problem is the 15/50 I have in it is just to thick to get up to speed with a crappy, no count battery.  I'm guessing with the proper battery, all my starting woes will be gone.

Gonna change the belts on Tues, it's supposed to get up to a balmy 50 degrees on Wed.   It DID start today with a quick blast of starter fluid, but I knew it would.  It's not something I want to make a habit of, though.  I'll run the heating pad idea past the owner of my MC storage and see if he has any issues with the added AC consumption. If not, I'll rig one up.  Should just be for another month or two anyway. 

DP-a dipstick heater was my first thought as well, but the "dipstick" on a 900 isn't really.  It's just the filler cap.  I don't think you can go straight in, and hit oil. One of the BMW heaters I had replaced the drain plug.  That might work.  The best one ever though was one that went inline of a heater hose and heated/circulated the water, not the oil.

Thanks for your input guys,  Hope to be back on the road soon.  Another way of looking at it was that the universe was just looking out for me.  Who knows what tragedy was awaiting me on New Year's Day???  [cheeky]

why are you using such a heavy oil for winter?

wouldn't 0/50 work better?

'Cause I'm too cheap to change $80/gal oil twice a year.

I used to be a Motul dealer. My rep on the west coast consults to several well known ALMS/Rolex Cup teams. It was his suggestion due to the high temps/air cooling when I lived in Las Vegas. When I asked him about cooler climes here, he said he would still use the 15W/50 because of air cooling/idling in traffic.
But it may come down to a simple matter of practicality: the auto parts store down the street from my MC storage can get 10W/40 next day, but has to special order 15W/50 (because no one uses it out here) if their cost per gal is cheaper than what my guy on the west coast can sell/ship me a gal of 15W50 for, I'll buy it.

FWIW, in "the great oil debate" I believe it comes down to this: "Dirty oil is better than no oil, and clean oil is better than dirty oil," other than that, it's personal preference/religion/voodoo. IMO any major brand of oil will be just dandy in a modern motor. I used what I use because of the recommendations of someone who knows a lot more about it than I do, and I trust his advice. OTOH, I'm not above saving a buck or two. This isn't Daytona after all.

you have a dry clutch right?

you would do more damage running 15/50 (that shit takes forever to warm up and its like sludge in the winter, you are basically running your engine without oil for the first few minutes, i  block my oil cooler in the winter to help) then you do running some random crappy 0wt winter oil.

just run a car oil 0wt tahts $15 bucks for a pail in the winter.

Even if i ride for an hour in sub zero temps ( ie 25 and lower) i can pretty much gaurentee my sensor will not pick up more than 140degrees on my normal 10wt oil ( i run 2 oil changes a year, my spring oil change is 20-50 or 10-40, depending on what i can get my hands on at the moment)  and my winter oil is 0w-40) but i run a wet clutch now and i dont even know where to find 0w.

You can also try getting a 12cell lithium they have a ton more CCA. I fixed teh starting issue on my bike and im just waiting for it to get murderously cold to see how it will crank...but it doenst seem like it since its the middle of janurary and its a balming 45 outside.

I'm throwing in the towel.  I can't find it out here and it's a fortune to ship from CA.  I'm sure 10W-40 will be just fine for the temps I ride in.  Rode over to my real life storage tonight after we finished the belts (hoping the package that came in was my new 200CCA battery (it wasn't) and the last time I looked it was already up to 130.  Don't know where it ended up, I forgot to look when I got back.  And tonight was about as cold as I'll ride, willingly.  (35˚ when I got back)

35, thats nothing. ;D

try riding in 5! you ll need to run water just to get the thing to get out of LO!