| Author | Message | ||
     Swordsman |
Warmed the bike up a few minutes ago to check the oil level before I head out (the weather is GORGEOUS), and I noticed SMOKE coming out of my catch cab! Never seen that before! Did some searching here on BW, and sounds like I most likely have some ring/piston issues. Gotta go pick up a compression tester now... so much for my ride. Dammit! Is that normal for a bike with only 20k miles? ~SM | ||
| Sifo |
Piston problems are not normal at 20K. I'm not sure that puffing some vapors from the breathers necessarily means piston problem either. How's the power? Is it burning oil? Making bad sounds? If the answers were NO, NO, NO, I would have gone on that ride. | ||
| Gunut75 |
My can passes vapors at startup. If you dont have any funny noises, get to that ride. My bike will burn a tiny bit of oil on a cold start. Hence my 2k mile oil change interval. It would be my guess that the first owner didn't do a proper break in. At 16k my bike is still getting better fuel economy than when I bought it with 5k. I don't think you have piston problems. I think you should go for a 10 mile ride, then check the oil. If theres no knocking, or piston slap, get out and ride. | ||
| Swordsman |
Really? I've NEVER seen it do this before, and I've had the bike since it was new, which would be 4 years now. It doesn't look like a "vapor"... it acts just like smoke, and after messing with it for several minutes, my garage was a bit hazy. But, on the other hand, power seems fine, and unless it's been creeping up on me so that I've gotten used to it over time, I don't notice any unusual sounds. I certainly HOPE you guys are right! Maybe the atmosphere is just right today to make it puff funny. I bought a compression tester, but wouldn't ya know, it doesn't have the right size adapter (only came with 14mm and 18mm, and looks like our plugs are 12mm... never bothered to check before). Thanks for the feedback though... you've got me feeling a little better about it.  ~SM | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I can't imagine piston rings going bad and you not knowing it or being able to tell from the sound or feel of the motor. Any chance it's been cooler in the last few days at night? | ||
| Swordsman |
Oh definitely. I've not ridden the bike in at least 2 weeks, and the mornings have been getting steadily cooler. It wasn't that cool this morning, probably around 70-75' when I was checking everything, but the humidity seems lower. Maybe the A/F simply hadn't adjusted to the new weather yet? ~SM | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'm thinking that you accumulated a significant amount of condensation with cooler nights and not riding it. Store it inside or outside? | ||
| Swordsman |
Inside a closed garage. But would the vapor make my garage look hazy after it'd been doing that for several minutes? ~SM | ||
| Gunut75 |
When I got done servicing mine last winter, it would fog ya out. I started it indoors, and it stunk up the place when the enriching mode was happening on cold start up. Especially after the breather reroute. Normal as far as my bike goes. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Well, some smoke machines use an oil/water mix to create heavy, lingering fog. Again, I'm not certain that there isn't something wrong, but just the smoke alone is not an indicator of serious mechanical failure. If it was hot and humid when you put it away (two weeks ago) and has become cool in the evenings (even in an enclosed garage), There could have been significant moisture collection in the crankcase. One think you might check that is easy, pull the primary inspection cover (clutch cover). If the back side of the cover is coated in "peanut butter" it would be a good indication of moisture in the primary as well. Just a theory. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Most who have never done the breather reroute would never see the "fog" because it would be sucked back into the intake track and burned up. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
You haven't commented on the smell of the haze. It would be distinctive. The colour would also be a giveaway. No smell, could be just steam from condensation in the exhaust. It would be dirty. Black would be gas and stink. Grey would be oil and stink. (Not fixed rules.) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Gray/Green would be the burrito platter and STINK TO BEAT THE BAND. | ||
| Etennuly |
Gray/Green would be the burrito platter and STINK TO BEAT THE BAND. And this would require immediate evacuation of the neighborhood. Methane build up is explosive!  When the smoke is in your garage.....do you come out of there laughing and looking for munchies? Could be the neighbor kids found a way into your garage!  I never really looked for one, but is there a PCV valve in the breather system somewhere? If they stick on a car engine it can cause what you are describing. | ||
| Swordsman |
Iamarchangel, I don't think you can really use the smell test for this, can you? I mean, the whole purpose of the vent routing back into the intake is to burn off blow-by for emissions control... seems to me that would ALWAYS be stinky. And it is, BTW. But that's nothing new. Everyone always thinks it's flooding.  ~SM | ||
| Iamarchangel |
It's your nose. And you're talking about something that is happening at a later stage, whether it's supposed to or not is the next question. If that's a frequent comment, it's also a hint, isn't it? That would move the question from oil to fuel, and from rings to the Fuel Enrichment Circuit. (i.e., you're coming too close to flooding the engine.) | ||
| Swordsman |
I've been told all bikes with the crankcase reroute stink, so I never thought anything about it. Which is also why I don't think sniffin' these fumes is going to help me out here (unless you count the buzz). I'm running a totally stock '07 tune with the '07 inner airbox. No mods at all any more, other than the breather reroute. ~SM (Message edited by Swordsman on September 18, 2010) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Not sure what we're missing here. You're asking the reader to guess what is causing a haze. The reader can't see or smell it. Appearance and odour are the clues needed to answer the question. Go for a ride. Crack the throttle wide open while it is still cold. If it bogs, stumbles, or stalls, its the FEC. When it's warm, try to hard accelerate or race up a hill it's done before, if it can't do that, it might be rings. If neither happens, enjoy your ride. |
