Smokey exhaust

[Sidecar Bob]

"Every GL1000 I’ve ever owned or worked on has had this characteristic to some degree." - Randakk
http://www.randakksblog.com/honda-gl100 ... l-startup/

[redglbx]

On the smoking thing, all of them that I’ve ever seen can smoke on start-up, Honda has done a lot to try and eliminate this but I’ve even seen 1800’s smoke on start-up, not like the 1000’s but they can.

If memory serves me correctly (questionable) Honda even used some kind of pin or nub in the ring grooves to orient the ring ends so they were not on the bottom of the cylinder in an effort to keep the crankcase oil from working it’s way past the rings and into the combustion chamber. I think this started with the 78 models.

I will add that I have found on my 76 that a clean & properly functioning crankcase vent system seems to help on this as well as reducing/eliminating oil consumption. Imho it is very important to have it hooked up to the air cleaner to keep a negative pressure (very slight) that reduces ring flutter.

This subject always makes me wonder if BMW has this problem? Anyone have any experience ?

It’s interesting that in the Randakk thread that Bob provided above the photo shows a Wing on a stand and smoking heavily but again imho the picture also shows Dr Al Wransky who I personally believe is totally responsible for that heavy fogging ,, luv ya Dr Al !

[Sidecar Bob]

I have read that the BMW K bikes were inadvertently designed so mirror image to what would have been ideal so that their cylinders pointed down when on the stand and they often produce very dense smoke screens (bad enough to make the issue with GoldWings seem inconsequential). I believe it was BMW that added bumps in the piston ring grooves to prevent the rings from rotating to where the gaps were at the bottom but Honda may have done it too.

It only takes a pinpoint sized drop of oil to produce a thick cloud on startup so the level in the crankcase won't get much lower even if it smokes every time.

[Track T 2411]

IIRC, filling the crankcase to the full mark on the window also adds to the spectacle, as well as increasing overall oil consumption. I fill to half between the lines at oil changes, and none of my bikes seem to require a top-up before the next change.

[BlueThunder]

My '77, "Ox", if I haven't ridden it for awhile will smoke. After a mile or two will clear up.
One time I hadn't ridden Ox for almost a year and boy did it smoke! Car drivers would stop me to tell me that "something was wrong with my bike!" It cleared up but after 20 miles or so at highway speeds. No mosquitos that month