Bought a 2006 with 800 miles on it. It was at a Ducati dealership in Portland where they rode it out of the warehouse and to the street to be seen. So, it was started up twice a day for two months without getting to operating temperature to burn off the moisture in the oil. I noticed a little bit of that creamy white oil condensed on the underside of the filler plug. Not good.

The previous owner traded in the bike and changed the oil before he traded it in and he didn’t ride it much at all obviously. The bike is in immaculate condition and appears to have been stored well (brake fluid is tan and not coffee brown).

So here is my question. I cleaned the creamy oil off the plug and reinstalled it before I could change the oil and noticed condensation accumulating under the plug again. I changed the oil and filter yesterday and ran it until the fan kicked on and drained the hot oil. Oil looked used, nothing unusual. Installed Mobil 1. After it cooled down I removed the plug and saw a little bit of moisture still condensing on the plug again! Huh? So, is this normal??

The previous owner did do a PAIR block off plate. Would this affect removal of the condensation in the crankcase??

Anybody else notice this? I live in Bend, Oregon and it is a dry climate, but cold right now. I have owned many bikes over the years and this is a first for me.

Ron

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"but cold right now"...that's creating condensation in there.Starting it and running it for several minutes.I would say they all do it IF the temps are right and the motor isn't allowed to fully run.Sounds normal to me.I've had it maybe 3 times.Then changed how I ran it and started it.Welcome.

Beside changing the oil a few times you could send a sample to backstone labs for oil analysis to verify its only water and not coolant

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In days of old when carbs wore bowls, the job site was half a mile away.
The run was short, the air was wet, the oil cap caught the condensation clap.
So I called Dr. Drain and prescribed a case of clapper clean, about 10/40's worth.

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Depends on the amount of water, white/creamy oil is a bad sign, a bit of water on the underside of the filler cap wouldn't concern me in the least as it would be exactly like Grn14 said.

IF you are getting water in the oil then it has to have come from somewhere and the only 2 places I know of are the coolant and the combustion of fuel. When you are riding your motorcycle regularly again start by checking to make sure the rad is full and mark/note the reservoir level. If the coolant levels keep dropping over time it may be an indication as to where the water is coming from. This would typically be from a blown head gasket, the traditional quick check for that would be to run the engine with the rad cap off and watch for bubbles showing up in the coolant.

The other source would be from the combustion of the fuel, typically from exhaust gas can be blowing past the piston rings. Since a large percent of the exhaust gas is water vapor, the vapor will eventually condense and get mixed in with the oil. A compression test of the cylinders will tell you if the piston rings and/or head gasket are leaking (additional tests are needed to further isolate this).

I'm not trying to frighten you into thinking that your bike is going to blow up, this is ONLY a concern if you are getting significant water in the oil.

Thank you all for your responses! I think that with the constant start ups and not letting the engine reach operating temperature that a lot of moisture collected in my crankcase. After changing the oil and seeing the few drops of condensation under the filler plug, I decided to let any more residual moisture to evaporate. I stuffed a clean cloth over the filler hole so that any moisture would be allowed to vent. The cloth was damp the next day and then I reinstalled the plug. So far no moisture has collected on it. Again thank you for your input!
Ron

* Last updated by: 2strokekawie750 on 1/15/2019 @ 4:33 PM *

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One of my favorite debates: Do I let it sit or do I start it over winter? If it's below 50 F, let it sit. You'll never get the whole engine up to operating temp idling unless it's 65+ degrees F. I have tried changing oil at 55 F and get condensation. 60 is ok. Change oil in the day at the end of September or sooner. That oil won't run off the parts. I've done engine work in winter and it's all coated with oil months after storage.

Don't start it until you're ready to ride. Some say it's better to run the motor every week but idling isn't really running if you ask me. Doubt it hurts much either way but water in the engine and exhaust repeatedly can't help but encourage rust. JMHO. I'm sure it matters what temp your winter weather is. Texas winter is a whole lot warmer than Wisconsin winter.

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The previous owner did do a PAIR block off plate. Would this affect removal of the condensation in the crankcase??

No. The PAIR comes from the air box to the exhaust.

Anybody else notice this? I live in Bend, Oregon and it is a dry climate, but cold right now. I have owned many bikes over the years and this is a first for me.

It's usually dry when it's below freezing but that doesn't seem to prevent condensation. This happened to me all the time when I rode the bike in early winter. There's no avoiding it. The busa has it too but less because it does not get as hot as my 14.

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Thanks for that explanation Rook. I think you are spot on. I have always heard that starting up your bike during the winter to get the “oil moving around” is actually worse as you have described. Plus I use full synthetic and my understanding is that synthetic clings to parts way better than regular oil.

It’s sure is nice to hear advice from someone who has torn apart bikes and is able to back up their claims.

Thanks, again!
Ron

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O sheesh--there's a lot better around here than me. Hub's a career bike mechanic. I'm just a shirt tail, shade tree mechanic when I have the time! I have seen the oil coating on everything way up in the top though. It yould take years for it to run off the parts.

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Rook's right.. This is normal when you run it in cold temps..

* Last updated by: stewbag15 on 1/31/2019 @ 11:01 AM *

I'm going to park the bike for so many winter months, what are the up/down sides?

Up: Parked that day for storage, my charger comes out of storage and let's count off the months being plugged in.
Down: Fuck that shit, I'll let it drain a buy a new battery every year.

Up: In the garage, I have the water heater, washer/dryer, parked car adding condensation so I top off the tank.
Down: The gallons are going to go stale anyway so I'll park it with a low level of fuel and let the rust begin.

Up: Using a gas stabilizer I ran it thru the injector system so it won't gum up the injectors during its down time.
Down: I'll take my chances if 9 months is the shelf life of gas and 4 month is my down time, let it decompose.

Up: I keep the hours off my engine so it never runs during its downtime.
Down: I just got called in the house and it only ran it for two minutes, oh well. That's the 14th time this month.

Up: My oil is still golden clear in color the day I parked it.
Down: I'm about to go out and buy some cookies and dip one in the chocolate crankcase mix.

Up: My charger has a brain so it stops charging at a certain threshold and then kicks back in when it drops below its threshold.
Down: I keep cranking this cold engine before it starts and my battery is now clicking at the starter motor.

Up: Welp, riding season is upon us and weeza outta here for a 200 mile brunch loop.
Down: Well, I'm still waiting on the phone to see if the dealer has a battery for me.

* Last updated by: Hub on 1/31/2019 @ 8:45 PM *

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