[Finally home]

I've finally given up on finding a good (easy, cheap) solution to protect my front Brambo cast iron rotors from rusting over the winter when stored in our unheated garage. They're on my 1995 900 SS SP and I consider them "part of the bike". I also note they are hard and expensive to find used.
Seems my only solution is to take the front wheel off and bring it into our nice warm dry home for the season.
I have a Pit Bull rear stand and a front wheel chock currently. Is the Pit Bull FO100 front stand the right way to go. Looks like another $179 :surprise: but don't know alternatives. Anyone used one??
Thanks!

 

[spacey]

I use a PowerStands Mark fork/head lift stand to lift my 900SS from the steering head tube. They have a pin that is specific fit for the Ducati head tube. It can also be configured as a fork lift. The also sell a fork lift only stand. My opinion is that the PowerStand is a little nicer than Pitbull and a little cheaper. I have no affiliation with them, and it was years ago when I bought my front and rear stands, so things may have changed.

 

[dspear99ca]

The only places I've lived where I experienced any rust due when my bikes were under cover was when I lived right on or near the ocean. I guess you have a big lake. If you're going to be regularly taking the wheel on and off the stand is the way to go... I've always had a garage with rafters or a beam that I could use to suspend the front end of my bike using ratchet straps. My multi makes it easy: it has a center stand and I can put something heavy on the rear luggage rack to tip the front wheel up off the ground. I block up the forks with wood after I remove the wheel.

 

[RubensHub]

I use a venom front stand and one of its supplied pins to hold up the front end of my ride in the winter. I also use an FG Gubellini stand at the rear to avoid any flat spots over the winter months.

 

[FredSmoot23]

front wheel removal...

Finally Home,

I have the cast iron rotors off of my '96 SS/SP B52 because the aluminum carriers wore very badly. I put rotors from a 748 onto my bike and saved about three pounds.

I have to find them......

Fred

 

[steveb64]

I've finally given up on finding a good (easy, cheap) solution to protect my front Brambo cast iron rotors from rusting over the winter when stored in our unheated garage. They're on my 1995 900 SS SP and I consider them "part of the bike". I also note they are hard and expensive to find used.
Seems my only solution is to take the front wheel off and bring it into our nice warm dry home for the season.
I have a Pit Bull rear stand and a front wheel chock currently. Is the Pit Bull FO100 front stand the right way to go. Looks like another $179 :surprise: but don't know alternatives. Anyone used one??
Thanks!

How wet is your garage?! I'd have to leave my bike in the rain for a few weeks for the disks to rust like that.

One other option would be to give them a good squirt of something like fish oil (you can get it in aerosol cans), which shouldn't penetrate the brake pads, but will clean off easily with the likes of Simple Green.

 

[steveb64]

Finally Home,

I have the cast iron rotors off of my '96 SS/SP B52 because the aluminum carriers wore very badly. I put rotors from a 748 onto my bike and saved about three pounds.

I have to find them......

Fred

Combi245 (currently doing the carbon fibre stuff) is/was doing something about making new carriers for those rotors/disks. Fairly similar to the ones Liam (Fastbikeguy) did some time back - which I have a set of.

 

[ducvet]

For winter storage you could also do like Braketec (sp) does with their new iron rotors and coat them, in the spring the pads will wile the dry coating off and you can pick up where you left off. I suspect it is a type of rattle can paint which would be hard to apply on the bike but you might find something to brush on. New car rotors also come coated and after bed in you are set to go. The pads will only take off the coating where the pads run so the rest is still protected from rust.

I do not coat any of my iron rotors and the minimal rust that shows up is gone on the first ride, I do get that the appearance of rust bothers some so a solution is warranted. If you coat with paint or chemical you could remove it in the spring before you ride if you did not want it on your pads.

 

[Finally home]

Thanks! My garage isn't wet but also not heated. We live in the center of Michigan between 3 of the Great Lakes and our home is on the Grand River. The issue is condensation during rapid temp changes - going from very cold to above freezing during the winter causes the bike to sweat = rust. I've actually had this problem before when we lived on the coasts of Canada. I've been warned to stay away from coating the rotors and short of finding a British bike "capsule" with a desiccant (like PermaPack), this is all I can think of to do.
I do appreciate the suggestions and think I'll go with the Pit Bull front stand.

 

[FredSmoot23]

removal....

Having looked for my cast iron rotors, it seems I have either sold them and forgotten, or hidden them too well. I neither case I cannot lay my hands on the rotors. Sorry....

Could you put your Ducati on a front stand and remove the front wheel, take it inside. Or take off the rotors from the front wheel and take them inside for the winter.

Fred

 

[Finally home]

Thanks Fred. Sorry to hear you lost/sold yours. There may be better options now but I remember 'way back when I bought the bike they were "state of the art".
My Pit Bull front stand is arriving tomorrow - early Xmas present from my wife!
I'll get the front wheel assembly off and over to our warm, dry basement before winter sets in and anymore damage is done this year.
Tank and battery are already there....

 

[spacey]

Maybe you should just roll the entire bike into your living room. :smile2:

 

[Finally home]

Great idea and one I actually achieved the first year we returned from Switzerland! It was rolled into our family room. We then repaired the run down garage and changed the old home design to remove direct access to this room from outside. Then I sold the bike while we devoted all our energies (and money) to restoring the home.
Can't think of any way to now get the bike back into the house! Too big. Too heavy.
Would be even worse if it was a Harley....

 

[duc96cr]

I live near Jackson, about 50 miles south of you. I have the same issue of everything not in a heated area being wet with condensation, even though the room itself is dry. Luckily my Ducatis don’t have cast iron rotors but that doesn’t stop everything else from rusting. I cram as many bikes as I can get away with in my walk out basement. I’ve found its even worse if I cover them because the moisture can’t evaporate.

 

[spacey]

I have seen those bag like zip up "garages". Maybe you could put the bike in one of those with a couple buckets of closet drying agent. Perhaps there are other forms of small scale humidity controlled storage available.

Found these... No idea if any good.

https://www.amazon.com/CarCapsule-Indoor-Inflatable-Motorcycle-Storage/dp/B004646F5U

https://www.autopyjama.com/permabag-engl/motorbike/

 

[Finally home]

Thanks Spacey. I did look into these some time ago. They come from the UK and at the time their website couldn't get me to what I wanted. They're expensive too. I'll see how I make out this winter and what next year brings. Perhaps the Mrs. will be able to "up the ante" next year!
Also agree with duc96cr that other things are impacted by our climate up here. My cover is mostly for dust as the roof had better keep everything else off of it. So far so good but who knows about the electrics.
Years ago I had a 700 Royal Enfield (awful bike) at home where I grew up in Nova Scotia. The winters were tough there and I had to coat all the chrome with vaseline to ward off the same problem. But that couldn't help the Lucus magneto. Bugger for punishment.

 

[spacey]

You can "fog" the intake with Seafoam, and there are probably other ways to do it as well. I had success with a product called "Dry Coat" to prevent rust forming on things that are not in use. It is made by the same people who make "Metal Rescue". I used Metal Rescue to remove rust from my fuel tank, then coated the inside with Dry Coat to keep surface rust from reforming until I put it into use. Had to flush out the Dry Coat from the tank prior to use.

 

[steveb64]

What about using a portable dehumidifier? We have a 10+ year old Mitsubishi portable unit that discharges into an internal tank, or into a hose that can drain outside, which we use in a 40 foot shipping container size portable cabin (Portacom for those that know of them). A (very) leaky one, and the dehumidifier sucks all the moisture out very nicely.
You don't need to have it running all the time - you should notice when the tank stops filling quickly (which may take a couple of tanks full) before things dry out. After that, run it once a week or so until the tank fills up (ours has an auto shut off for when the tank is full). The big benefit is that not only will the bike be drier, so will everything else stored in there.

 

[duc96cr]

I used to spray my wheels chrome bumpers on British cars with WD40. It did a decent job, didn’t affect paint.

 

[2004 999s]

moisture.

lots of it in Winter.I use a moisture barrier over the concrete in the garage then a layer of old carpet.to protect from dense air wrap the front rotors with a cotton towel,usually $1. at thrift stores.old blanket to cover the bike from same place.also helps to insulate the garage ceiling+walls+door(reflextics).towels also do well out in the elements-no issues when storing a car out doors come spring.for extra insurance place a container of damprid near the bike.