Ducati Monster Forum

Hi, I'm new to the board. I'm also fairly new to Ducati, having always ridden Honda CB's, which i can say, is night and day difference.

I've had a lot of issues with my Monster. One of them is 'overheating' I live in the city, it's hard to avoid traffic as well as slow stop and start driving. I usually always reach 255-275 F.  which is when i pull over and let it cool down. I have read about adding an oil cooler kit to the 620.  I've never let it get as far as my indicator light going on, but i have a feeling its approaching,  300? maybe.  Is this something i should consider? because this always happens. how much does the temp go down with a cooler, just an approx idea?  Is it easier to buy a new kit, or find something second hand on eBay?

Anyone who could point me in the right direction as to where to buy one, and if there's a pdf of step by step for the install somewhere? could use some insight!

much appreciated

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?www;action=forum

Here's some information for a 696.  Compare them to see if the photos match your setup.

An oil cooler will not help much in city traffic and is not cheap.  It will cool off faster when traffic clears though.  Too hot is 338⁰F according to Ducati.  As long as you are running a wet clutch specific quality full synthetic oil the bike should be fine.  My bike run around 160ish in heavy traffic.  Though I am not happy the bike seems fine. 

You might be running a little lean.  Any modifications to your bike, like exhaust or open air box?  Either way, the bikes were a little lean out of the factory, so you might want to have fuel trim checked.

yes, i do have an open airbox, I don't have stock pipes, and i believe the emissions canister has been removed.

i'll trust my temp sensor is not faulty (heard earlier models had issues) and it flashes when I reach my maximum. it's good to know that i still have a bit to go, in case i'm ever in the situation. I always try to stop before i reach max and cool down anyways..

thanks for the insight

I noticed a solid 30 degree difference with the cooler on normal days, and it definitely does help if you are moving to cool the engine down, but around town not much is going to help.

I personally would only start to get worried around 315, and at that point, its probably close to 100 degrees and you are uncomfortable as is. The more often it does get that hot though, I'd consider a slightly more regular oil change schedule.

I'm with Howie.
With an open airbox and stock fuel mapping the motor will run hotter than normal. That situation halves your margin. The oil coolers are quite effective and in a recent thread DP correctly mentioned the older coolers being almost too effective for half the year in some places. Im glad for mine in summer and cover it in winter. In warm climates they are essential. That was a good point about regular oil changes with an air/oil cooled bike as the oil and fins carry the cooling burden without the assistance of water cooling. Earlier models had oil galleries running through the barrels ala the early GSXR SACS system.
Do you know if the bike was tuned to support that mod?
The combination of correct tune to the mods, an oil cooler and full synth moto oil will all help. If the tune was adjusted to the open airbox then that's one down. [thumbsup]

Open box air filter and after market exjaust... trim and tps should be reset and CO be around 4% but no more than 4.5%