Hypermotard Low Oil Temp in Rain

[GNGYoung]

Hey all ! I'm a new and proud owner of my Hypermotard 1100S. Having driven Harleys for over 25 years I'm used to the quirks associated with the magic of a Harley V-Twin. Its my love of Air-Cooled V-Twins that drove me to the Ducati Air Cooled engine.

So, Today I wanted to see how she would perform in the rain. At the start of the ride, the roads were dry and the oil temp went as high as 85 Dec C. When it started to rain, the oil temp dropped, progressively from the mid 80's to the low 40's and then the temp indication eventually read "LOW". Fearing the worst, I stopped to check the oil level. That's when I saw emulsion or condensate on the oil level window, but atleast the oil level was correct. Idling at the sto, the oil temp quickly raised to 60 Deg C but again driving off on the wet road in the rain the temp again dropped to a "Low" reading.

Is this normal? Does a $18,000 Cdn Ducati Hypermotard S not come with an oil cooler thermostat somewhere? Your experiences in this area would be appreciated!

Thanks

G

[BigMac038]

Lowering oil temp=Kinetic theory of evaporation?? Perhaps..

I've also seen the same on my oil level window too.

[STICKER]

Glad to see another Canadian on the board!! Welcome to the land of the hooligan bike. As far as your oil temp goes, I would check it as per the manual. Mine has gotten as low as 60-65celsius on a cool morning but stuck in Toronto traffic it goes as high as 127!! Hope it works out for you. Maybe a loose connection somewhere allowing either oil out or condensation in.

[MongoWERA]

All oil will have condensation in it for a while when you fire it up, not a big deal. If it's that cold then it takes it a while to warm up enough to boil the water out of the oil (especially when it's staying below the boiling point for water). Put a strip or two of duct tape on the oil cooler of it's too cold for you or run the revs higher to keep heat in the motor.

[GNGYoung]

Gents,

Thanks for the tips regarding covering the oil cooler. I know that trip from years ago while tryin to keep my POS Volvo diesel warm enough to make the heater work. Having spent some large coin on this bike, I'm not keen on covering it up with Red-Neck Tape or cardboard.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't mind the cold so I've her my Hyper-Retard out during the past week or so when the temps fell to 3 - 4 Deg C (about 36-37 Deg F) and the bike oil temp climbed to mid 90's (again Degrees C). I know what evaporation does and how it works, but I was a little surprised to see the temp drop to "LOW" after two hours of riding!!

I'll take it then that atleast one other owner has seen the oil temps fall in rain. Therefore I'll conclude that there is no thermostatic control on the oil cooler. The temperature drop is due to the mini-front fender (who am I kidding, its a joke that Ducati bothered to put such a small fender there at all) kicking rain up from the front wheel to the oil cooler. It essentially becomes an oil-to-water cooler as opposed to an oil-to-air. Quite the temperature drop just the same!! (95 Deg C down to less than 40 Deg C)

I honestly never thought Ducati would build an oil cooler that is inferior to that on my Ultra Classic HOG. I just wanted to know if it was common, else I planned to call the local dealer for advice. I'll consider this a closed deal.

Thanks for the interest Guys! So far this Hyper is a HOOT! I'm on my best P's and Q's until its broken in, but even this early I'm already seeing what an awesome bike this thing is! Now, all I have to do is to convince the 3M Rep to replicate the Ducati lettering to I can have a " Hyper-REtard" decal made up for the front Duck's Beak!

[MarksFriggin]

I try to ride my Hyper throughout the year here in New Jersey so I ride when it's under 40 degrees (F). I've noticed that even after covering up the oil cooler, the temps won't go above about 185 degrees (85 C) in that weather. I'd like to have an oil cooler with a thermostat in it so I can have it go up to over 200 on a regular basis.

The condensation stays in there all winter long on my bike and it's kind of disturbing.

[MongoWERA]

See, I look at it the other way around, the Duc oiler cooler does keep the oil cooler than the one on my Ultra. Therefore it works better.

[MarksFriggin]

It does work remarkably well. Just too well for some of us.

[wjn]

Originally Posted by GNGYoung

Hey all ! I'm a new and proud owner of my Hypermotard 1100S. Having driven Harleys for over 25 years I'm used to the quirks associated with the magic of a Harley V-Twin. Its my love of Air-Cooled V-Twins that drove me to the Ducati Air Cooled engine.

So, Today I wanted to see how she would perform in the rain. At the start of the ride, the roads were dry and the oil temp went as high as 85 Dec C. When it started to rain, the oil temp dropped, progressively from the mid 80's to the low 40's and then the temp indication eventually read "LOW". Fearing the worst, I stopped to check the oil level. That's when I saw emulsion or condensate on the oil level window, but atleast the oil level was correct. Idling at the sto, the oil temp quickly raised to 60 Deg C but again driving off on the wet road in the rain the temp again dropped to a "Low" reading.

Is this normal? Does a $18,000 Cdn Ducati Hypermotard S not come with an oil cooler thermostat somewhere? Your experiences in this area would be appreciated!

Thanks

G

I had the same experience in heavy rain, but not up to (?) LOW. I was already at home by than.

[freezer16801]

I had the same experience in the rain. I never got as far as low though. I imagine if I had riden a bit longer, it would've reached that level. Thankfully for me it never made it that far because I wasn't dressed for the weather. I know my own internal temp. was reading low as well!