I ended up when putting the bike away, taking the oil filler cap off, putting a bit, not a lot, of kitchen roll in the open gap and by the morning it was all clear again. It never got that hot to have a worry about anything in the hole but if that worries you, just leave the cap off and don't put kitchen roll/rag in the gap. I used to leave the cap on the tank to remind myself to put it back in, the following morning. It's an annoying thing more than a quality issue and I wonder if it effects other naked bikes which also cop the full cold winds straight onto the engine block?
11 miles might get your water temperature up to the levels that you expect, but it will probably take most of that distance to get the oil up to operating temperature, and then there is no time for the oil to burn off the condensation.
Edited well I had a look this morning, ambient temp between -1 and 1 degree C. The poxy bike was sitting at about 60 C on the motorway! Went up to 72 in traffic at my destination. no wonder there's condensation in the damn engine (that's still way off boiling point) In 8 degrees ambient it’s about 66 to 68 C on the motorway, still too cool IMO
My Monster has done this for years from new. Blanking off the oil cooler in winter makes sense but I've never bothered. Also you can help by having the oil level set to the minimum in Winter.
My old '96 M900 always did that but my '02 ST4 doesn't (i don't ride it in winter as I'm a big Jessie) seems a common issue and I had no problems in approx. 13,000 miles on the Monster
Yes I looked on way home it is C. About 70 odd on way home as warmer ambient now. Clearly causes the issue. I’ve bought a new oil and filter and will probably change it this weekend, and try and block off the oil cooler.
Yesterday I fitted some plastic to the entire radiator area and front cylinder guard. This morning it caused the temp to climb, eventually to just about a hundred on the motorway which was ok. But then to 104 and fans kicking in on normal roads after the motorway. Touched 109 in traffic in the way home so too much (7 C ambient; a bit chilly). S otnight I have cut 2 holes where the fans are to let some air through, and enable the fans to work a lot better if necessary. I will see how temps act tomorrow morning. Edit: The 2 holes made it about right. Temp on motorway up to 90; and then approached 100 when on slow roads near destination Pic whole area: (this was the full one before I cut fan holes):
