First Time Bike Owner - Stands and First Service Question

[tlh235]

So with winter approaching( ), my 696 will be spending more time in the garage and i'm looking at Pitbull stands.  My question is this...is it absolutely necessary to buy both a front and rear stand in order to store the bike during the winter?  Is one more necessary than the other?  Can you go without them if you just plan on moving the bike back and forth in the garage in order to spin the tires so that the same part of the tire isn't resting on the floor.  I do plan on getting both stands at some point just not both right now(xmas is coming...they are on my list!).

oh and another question, i got my bike(brand new) a little later in summer and because of work and travel, only up to now have put approx 350 miles on it....no long trips, was my first bike so alot of time was spent on side and local streets learning more or less how to ride and getting comfortable with other cars around.  My question is this, since winter is approaching i'm pretty sure i won't be able to put the 600-700 miles on the bike to get to the first Service.  Should i take the bike in now for a service since winter is approaching and it won't be ridden or should i just wait until the 600-700 mile marker hits, no matter how long that takes for the first service? 

[Howie]

Buying the stands is a good investment, IMO, but rolling the bike once in a while works fine.  You can do the 600 in the spring, but I would change the oil and fog the cylinders before storage.

Lots of info on winter storage on this board, search, pick through and decide for yourself.

The jury is still out on whether to store a Duc with a plastic tank full or empty if you are using E 10 fuel (gasoline with alcohol poisoning).  If you can, full tank with fuel stabilizer and alcohol free fuel is best.

[tlh235]

i did get some fuel stabilizer...question on that, when you go to store the bike for the winter and add the fuel stabilizer.....does that affect riding the bike during that one or two days of nice weather that might spring up during the winter.  once you add the fuel stabilizer does that mean the bike shouldn't be ridden.  Do you have to drain the current "stabilized" fuel in order to take the bike out for a ride during a nice day.  sorry again if these questions are stupid, first time bike owner and learning as i go.  When it comes to fuel, i've been adding Premium gas since the beginning.

what exactly is foggin the cyclinders?

[Slide Panda]

Back to stands - if you have to choose, buy the rear stand. A rear stand will see a lot more use than a front.

Adding stabilizer to fuel doesn't mean you can't run the bike until you're ready to bring it out for regular use. Don't worry about that.

Fogging - go to an auto shop and they will have spray cans for this. It's a light weight spray oil that you spray in through the spark plug holes (and possibly other spots) to help prevent any corrosion during long periods of disuse. if you fog, just remember that you did and be ready for the belch of white smoke when you next start the bike.

[xsephirot]

Hey there OP. I must say I am/was in the same position as you were a couple of weeks back. I would say definitely get stands. I find the t-rex stands to be as almost the same quality as pitbull and half the price. I would get a rear stand from t-rex. And get a front triple tree stand from here: http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=51255.0. I wish I had bought that instead of spending an extra 40 bucks for the t-rex one.

For fuel stabilizer make sure you add as much gasoline as you can into your tank before adding the stabilizer. Just the right amount in it and swirl it around. Let it sit for a few minutes and run the bike to make sure the gas goes into all the fuel lines. I wouldn't worry about your tank expanding and what not as you'll be under warranty for awhile based on Ducati's classaction lawsuit settlement.

For fogging the spark plugs, you'll need a special tool (get used to buying a bunch of special tools when you start trying to wrench your bike yourself). I didn't bother with the spark plugs. If you do decide to pull the sparkplugs just remember that you will also need a torque wrench to torque the plugs back in at just the right amount of nM.