UK Monster Owners Club Forum - View Single Post

utopia · 01-03-2018, 01:18 PM

I have the electric heaters on my 750 and they don't do much if anything .. I still get quite bad icing, but its hard to know if it would be worse without the heaters or not.
But they are unobtrusive and simple so I would use them if you have the option.
Don't think I'd bother with the messy oil fed heaters, but maybe you could retain a retrofit option on those.

My (Honda) Dommie has an electric heater and it never ices.
I dunno how powerful its heating element is, but maybe its a hotter one ?
Which begs the question, could you obtain a hotter element for the monster carbs ? .. since you'll be buying some anyway, and Ducati's prices are likely to be high while an aftermarket hotter element may be cheaper anyway.

But there is another difference on the Dommie.
On the monster the heaters are controlled by a temp sensor fitted under the instrument cluster somewhere.
The Dommie has no such controller that I can find (and I've just pretty much rewired it, so I've seen everything electrical).
This has had me wondering whether the Ducati system would work better if the sensor is removed.
I know that mine is working on the bench, as are the heaters, but I'm less convinced that its working effectively on the road.
Quite often, I get icing on damp but not terribly cold days (not surprisingly) and I wonder whether a remote, temperature-based controller is the most appropriate device.
I can't see any significant downside to leaving the heaters on full time .. at least the Dommie doesn't seem to mind (and its the winter bike).
... notwithstanding that a cold charge is always desirable.

Me, I bought some FCRs (before the post-brexit price explosion).
They don't ice, apparently.
(but for now they're still in the box)

You might consider fitting the std elements (to avoid risk of overkill from fitting hotter ones) and adding a manual switch instead of the controller .....?
Then you could switch the heaters off in the summer.
The oil fed heaters have no controller and are manually selected in a similar way and they don't seem to suffer.

01-03-2018, 01:18 PM	#578
utopia No turn left unstoned Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: leicester Bike: M750 Posts: 4,546	I have the electric heaters on my 750 and they don't do much if anything .. I still get quite bad icing, but its hard to know if it would be worse without the heaters or not. But they are unobtrusive and simple so I would use them if you have the option. Don't think I'd bother with the messy oil fed heaters, but maybe you could retain a retrofit option on those. My (Honda) Dommie has an electric heater and it never ices. I dunno how powerful its heating element is, but maybe its a hotter one ? Which begs the question, could you obtain a hotter element for the monster carbs ? .. since you'll be buying some anyway, and Ducati's prices are likely to be high while an aftermarket hotter element may be cheaper anyway. But there is another difference on the Dommie. On the monster the heaters are controlled by a temp sensor fitted under the instrument cluster somewhere. The Dommie has no such controller that I can find (and I've just pretty much rewired it, so I've seen everything electrical). This has had me wondering whether the Ducati system would work better if the sensor is removed. I know that mine is working on the bench, as are the heaters, but I'm less convinced that its working effectively on the road. Quite often, I get icing on damp but not terribly cold days (not surprisingly) and I wonder whether a remote, temperature-based controller is the most appropriate device. I can't see any significant downside to leaving the heaters on full time .. at least the Dommie doesn't seem to mind (and its the winter bike). ... notwithstanding that a cold charge is always desirable. Me, I bought some FCRs (before the post-brexit price explosion). They don't ice, apparently. (but for now they're still in the box) You might consider fitting the std elements (to avoid risk of overkill from fitting hotter ones) and adding a manual switch instead of the controller .....? Then you could switch the heaters off in the summer. The oil fed heaters have no controller and are manually selected in a similar way and they don't seem to suffer.