Morning. I have a M1200R. 1st ride after it’s been cleaned I get orange rusty water coming from the 2 drain holes in the pic, that I stole from another post. Said orange water gets blown across the exhaust guard from the front hole and the swing arm and shock from the back. I’ve located the drain holes and can see they’re orange inside. Bit of a concern knowing the frame is rusting from the inside out. Anyone had this and located where the water is getting in in the first place? Cheers
My guess is that they are not really drain holes, rather they are hot-air expansion holes for during welding. All the tubes are closed end, so I expect you're getting water ingress through a weld gap. Can you get enough junk off the frame and force air into the 'drain' hole & see where the entry point is (cos it'll be pissing out orange!)?
that is alarming particularly considering that it's happening to two separate welded assys. No idea how it started or what caused it, but makes me wonder if whole bike got "a lot wetter/damper than usual" at some point. Would be good to know how many miles old? owned from new?
It will only be light surface rust on the inside of the tube, not a structural concern at all, it would take many years to progress to the point where the frame was weakened, I would suggest placing a small domestic fan heater near the tubes to warm them enough for the water to evaporate and then feed a WD40 tube into the hole and give it a blast, obviously don’t get the area too hot for fear of damaging surrounding parts, next time you wash it do so with a soft brush and soapy water and take care when rinsing, a watering can is reasonably good for this, above all do not use a jet washer, they force water into many areas that it shouldn’t be.
Very interesting. The compressed air and wd40 seems promising. It would be great to know all the particulars... Year, owned from new?, do you use a pressure washer? Rex
For sure, it's "each to their own" on this one but would probably fill with Waxoyl or later version myself. I'm sorry but I don't hold with the "it won't get any worse" theory.
Well it would if he kept filling it with water by using a pressure washer!, but even so it would take years to cause a structural problem, I’m almost certain that Ducati don’t protect the inside of the tubes so a bit of water instantly forms rust but it would take an awful lot of cycles to significantly affect the wall thickness. Even more of a reason not to use a pressure washer is the electrics, a bit of water in the wrong place in the electrics can cause big problems very quickly! Also you can force water into the bearings, pressure washers shouldn’t go anywhere near a bike IMO.
Agree, although I don't think the OP said he used a pressure washer, just said he'd cleaned it. Didd you use a pressure washer OP? If you did, don't do it again.
Anything wax based is the way to go. Old guns and swords suffer from corrosion and pitting caused by oil that turns to acid over time. Only ever wax an old weapon. Or in this case, a new weapon.
I have a compressor so will give that a go after tomorrow’s clean. Any ideas if there’s any likely holes further up the frame, would be good to flush it all out then use waxoil or something else the guys have mentioned above.
I am not sure what waxoil is... sounds like a coating. Before then blow it out the best you can and then do the WD40 It was designed as a water displacement... Then after a while blow that out. Use silicone to seal the openings and ride. Or coat it and ride. Rex
My guess is that there are weld gaps at the other end of the tubes that have the 'drain' holes in them - watch for orange egress at those welds when you pop the compressor air up their 'drain' holes. I'm not intimately familiar with the Monster frame so am just making assumptions... I second the Waxoyl solution as above (but if it's a new bike I'd certainly mention it to Ducati).
Thanks to all for the responses and input. So I’ve owned the bike 3 weeks. Unfortunately I picked the bike up on the wettest day we’d had in ages and had a 200 mile journey home, rain the whole way. I have a Kranzle jet wash which I do use on bikes and always have, other Ducati’s included, and never had an issue. The pressure is adjustable so I can turn the pressure down and then use a 40 degree nozzle which basically takes all the sting out of it. Just literally blows the dirt etc away. You can put your hand in front of the spray without issue so not much chance of damaging bearings etc. I’m careful where I point it. Bike has done 2500 miles now. Previous owner kept it clean and I’m a bit of a clean freak, I machine polish and detail cars on the side for fun. And of course my bikes. But as I said never had this issue before. I rinse with deionised water and use an air drier to force the water off the bike. Then finish with a drying towel. The bike is now partially ceramic coated (wheels, exhaust) and the paint work has a sealant applied. All that makes cleaning easy and the gentle jet wash is enough to blow her clean. I’ll pay close attention when I clean it tomorrow as based on the comments re water ingress whilst cleaning, I’m actually thinking that the drier is more likely to be forcing water into places. The drier I have blows hot and cold (like Dukes of old) so I’ll make sure I blow out/dry as much as is possible then use something to try and treat/prevent any further rust. If that fails I have a compressor too. If i can clean it out, dry it out and apply wax oil or similar I may even try and source some rubber grommets to plug them. Then check regularly to see if water is still getting in somewhere else. I asked the same question on a Facebook group for monsters and I wasn’t alone in the rusty water saga. No tried and tested solutions As yet though. I’ll post again with any update. Thanks again
I may well become intimate with this frame over the weekend. It’s a 68 plate and still under warranty. I’ll drop my local dealer a line.
I’m not a big fan of ACF50. I find it’s fine on a bike that is laid up but if you still use it, it’s a real crud magnet. I do like gt85 which is like wd40 with added Teflon and smells nicer.
