What to look for when loss of HP and rough after sitting in high moisture?

[KPhinney]

2008 S4RS Testastretta 998.

I downsized from a house with a garage to a condo on the beach.  Pluses and minuses, but that's off topic other than losing my dedicated, dry Ducati parking spot.  My S4RS has been covered but sitting in the open with ocean air and Florida humidity for the better part of a month while I located a garage to rent.  I started it every few days and let it warm up to 150-170 deg but didn't get a chance to ride it.  

(Winter riding in Florida can be hazardous.  It sounds idyllic; beaches, bikinis, bikes, and sunshine.  That's until you realize the other drivers are texting, on Spring Break, senile, can't see over the wheel, drinking, drunk, or legally talking on a cell phone.  Likely it's a mix:  drunk texting spring breakers in monster trucks looking for their "Code Silver" grandma who got boozed up at Bridge Club and forgot how to get home so she's driving the wrong way up I-95.)

This past weekend I moved it to it's new garage.  For most of the 10 mile drive it ran like it was missing a cylinder.  Lower horsepower, more than typical vibration and didn't have the harmonic roar at around 5,500 rpm.  After 10-15 minutes in moderate traffic it came back mostly to normal.  The hp and sound came back and felt good accelerating, but on a steady throttle it has more lugging and stuttering than normal (~4,500 rpm).

The plugs are iridiums only coming up on 1 year with about 2,000 miles.  Now that I have a garage again, what do you think I should look for when I rip into it?

[stopintime]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure some of them would suggest fresh fuel 

[Howie]

Fresh fuel is a good idea if the bike was sitting for months without Stable or an equivalent.  You also might consider new NGK conventional spark plugs.

[koko64]

When I think of seaside humidity I think of corroded electrical contacts and terminals. Worth checking and cleaning terminals, spraying switch internals with WD40 or somesuch and cleaning earth points and coating with dielectric grease. Wash off the salt air and apply wax/polish protection.

[ducpainter]

When I think of seaside humidity I think of corroded electrical contacts and terminals. Worth checking and cleaning terminals, spraying switch internals with WD40 or such and cleaning earth points and coating with dielectric grease. Wash off the salt air and wax too.

I'd try fresh fuel, and plugs, before I started taking switches, and connectors, apart to look for corrosion.

You're not wrong that it's a concern over the long run, but...

Do the easy stuff first.

[koko64]

Modern fuels cerainly seem to go off quite quickly, see it all the time.
I'd give the bike a good service. It's good to clean those switches and connections as part of periodic maintenance in those climates. My M900 came from a beach town.

[ducpainter]

Modern fuels cerainly seem to go off quite quickly, see it all the time.
I'd give the bike a good service. It's good to clean those switches and connections as part of periodic maintenance in those climates. My M900 came from a beach town.

Ethanol fuel starts going off as soon as it leaves the first tank and has contact with the atmosphere.

[koko64]

Yeah, you don't get a choice ay?

[Howie]

At this point most of the Us does not.  And they are starting to push E15.  Alcohol  poisening?

[koko64]

Sorry to hear. We have separate bowsers that have to be marked by law. If you stick to the big brands you're usually ok.
If it's E fuel then a check of internal pump hoses could be worthwhile if the simple fix don't work?

[S21FOLGORE]

The plugs are iridiums only coming up on 1 year with about 2,000 miles.

I said this last summer, and I will say it again, and again.


"You may be surprised, but, Iridium or Platinum spark plugs will give you WORSE performance than conventional (stock Champion) plugs in your Ducati.

Iridium plugs are not some sort of magic plugs. They don't give you any performance gain, but longer service life.
(That's what they were originally invented for.)
Some people report on online forum saying that switching to the Iridium plugs made throttle response better/ felt more power / run smoother  , it' because they are comparing brand new plugs to old, worn out plugs they just replaced."

The thread (from last year)
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=75537.msg1388513#msg1388513

[KPhinney]

Thanks for the info. 

1)  I'll start with a fresh tank.  I run ethanol-free fuel, unless I'm somewhere on the road and desperately need it. 

Next time I can spend some quality time in the garage:
2)  Will change the plugs back to stock. 
3)  While I have the tank up, I'll go thru the connections and switches.  It'll give me a chance to use the terminal cleaning set I inherited. 
4)  I've been meaning to change out the fuel lines.  The original owner only ran E fuel.  The bike has a degree of tank swell so I'm assuming the pipes have been affected too. 
5)  Brake pads are on order -- unrelated. 
6)  I'll check off some of the 10,000 mile maintenance items from: http://www.ducatisuite.com/maintcharts.html
7)  And finally, a wash & wax. 

[koko64]

 
Flagship model.

[Howie]

Just to add a little clarity about why iradium plugs are not a good idea in your Ducati (unless you do a bit of ignition modification).  Iradium plugs are good.  The problem is too good.  Keeping it simple, iradium plugs have very low resistance.  That means unless you run a wide gap spark (intensity) kernel is weak.  If your coils are not up to the task the wide gap will lead to misfire at high load and RPM. 

[KPhinney]

Just to add a little clarity about why iradium plugs are not a good idea in your Ducati (unless you do a bit of ignition modification).  Iradium plugs are good.  The problem is too good.  Keeping it simple, iradium plugs have very low resistance.  That means unless you run a wide gap spark (intensity) kernel is weak.  If your coils are not up to the task the wide gap will lead to misfire at high load and RPM. 

Makes sense.  Thanks