Smokey exhaust

[Seb Astian]

My left side exhaust is smoking. At idle speed this clears when the bike warms up, but gets bad again if I rev it above 5000rpm.

If still got carburettor issues and the timing seems out a bit as I get the occasional misfire.
Could that be the cause of the smoke, or should I be worried?

[Seb Astian]

I should say she has only done 38000 miles

[Rat]

Kind of bike ?

Type of smoke ?

Gord (use OEM headgaskets) Jones

[low-side]

If it's bluish smoke that clears up, it's likely oil that leaked past the piston rings while parked on the side stand. Boxer engines do that. Happening again at 5K rpm could indicate problems with valve stem seals or piston rings. White, sweet smelling smoke would indicate burning coolant and black smoke would indicate very rich mixture.

[ericheath]

What he said

[Seb Astian]

Kind of bike ?

Type of smoke ?

Gord (use OEM headgaskets) Jones

GL1000 1979.

Blue smoke

[Seb Astian]

If it's bluish smoke that clears up, it's likely oil that leaked past the piston rings while parked on the side stand. Boxer engines do that. Happening again at 5K rpm could indicate problems with valve stem seals or piston rings. White, sweet smelling smoke would indicate burning coolant and black smoke would indicate very rich mixture.

Thanks, it's blue smoke and quite a considerable amount.

I guess I need to find out exactly which cylinder it is. Is it possible to run it without exhaust for a short time to find out?

[tlbranth]

How about doing a compression and leakdown test. If those pass, put in new valve stem seals.

[Seb Astian]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks!

I wont be able to do a leak down test as I don't have a compressor, but a compression test is possible.

[robin1731]

Get everything else right before going in too deep. As stated, valve adjustment, timing, and carbs. As in carbs rebuilt and adjusted properly. If this bike has sat for awhile and your are just getting it going again I wouldn't worry too much about compression yet. Same with the leakdown.

.

[low-side]

If you haven't already done so, I would read up on Randakk's site about starting engines that have sat a long period of time. The process uses some oil, but is almost sure to free up rings and flush junk out of areas it shouldn't be. I'd follow it to the letter and see if it doesn't help. I also recommend cleaning the pick up screen if you haven't already. It's a bit of a pain to get to, but it should be done.

[Seb Astian]

Well, it has been used by the previous owner and I have just ridden it home 400+ miles.
Today I did the valve clearances, which were out by miles, and I noticed that the spark plugs where connected in the wrong order. I'll do the ignition timing tomorrow and see how I go.

Thanks for all the advice

[scootsx2]

Well, it has been used by the previous owner and I have just ridden it home 400+ miles.
Today I did the valve clearances, which were out by miles, and I noticed that the spark plugs where connected in the wrong order. I'll do the ignition timing tomorrow and see how I go.

... and you rode 400+ miles like that?

[tlbranth]

Well he might've had 1 &2 reversed or 3 & 4 reversed which wouldn't hurt.

[Seb Astian]

Well, it has been used by the previous owner and I have just ridden it home 400+ miles.
Today I did the valve clearances, which were out by miles, and I noticed that the spark plugs where connected in the wrong order. I'll do the ignition timing tomorrow and see how I go.

... and you rode 400+ miles like that?

Yep. The numbers on the wires lined were in the right place, so I didn't know any better. She didn't run too bad either, asside from occasionall misfire. I put that down to ignition timing needing adjustment.
Having worked on it for a couple of days, it seems like this bike had its fair share of "experts"working on it. Nothing but rounded off heads and things that aren't quite in the right place.