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Random and Intermittent Puff of Smoke on Start


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Hey all. So it's been about 2 years since I've had this happen now, but randomly during a cold start I'll get a burning oil like Puff of Smoke from the exhaust.

Never happens after long stints of no use though 

 

Ive never had a motorcycle Puff before. And on my car I ended up replacing the valve guide seals. The car at that point was blowing smoke at every start and worse the longer it would sit. Which isn't a similar symptom to my vfr 

 

Is this a normal thing for a 6th Gen vfr? Has anyone else had a random Puff of Smoke during start and found the cause? 

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45 minutes ago, TriumphTraitor said:

Hey all. So it's been about 2 years since I've had this happen now, but randomly during a cold start I'll get a burning oil like Puff of Smoke from the exhaust.

Never happens after long stints of no use though 

 

Ive never had a motorcycle Puff before. And on my car I ended up replacing the valve guide seals. The car at that point was blowing smoke at every start and worse the longer it would sit. Which isn't a similar symptom to my vfr 

 

Is this a normal thing for a 6th Gen vfr? Has anyone else had a random Puff of Smoke during start and found the cause? 

Are you sure it's not just condensation coming from the exhaust, very common with cold starts?

- Is your bike oil level dropping excessively?

 

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white or blue smoke?

 

 

 

My bikes (VF(R)/RC51) are parked outside most of the year and will most of the time "smoke white"a bit; condensation that disappears. I have no measuarable oil loss

My now gone 4th Gen had a clear clutch cover and at times the inside looked like light brown mayo. That was the condensation. Once heated up it would disappear..

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11 hours ago, Grum said:

Are you sure it's not just condensation coming from the exhaust, very common with cold starts?

- Is your bike oil level dropping excessively?

 

It's definitely oil, it has that slight blue hue with the acrid burnt oil smell. Unlike the condensate this Puff of Smoke lingers in the garage too. 

Oil consumption is minimal to nonexistent I would say. 

 

5 hours ago, Dutchy said:

white or blue smoke?

 

 

 

My bikes (VF(R)/RC51) are parked outside most of the year and will most of the time "smoke white"a bit; condensation that disappears. I have no measuarable oil loss

My now gone 4th Gen had a clear clutch cover and at times the inside looked like light brown mayo. That was the condensation. Once heated up it would disappear..

No brown mayo in my sight glass. I use synthetic which really helps reduce the condensation buildup within the Crank case. 

 

I'm also fairly low on the ODO, Sub 30k km. Out of all the 6, 4 stroke bikes I've owned, this is the only one that's ever done this. 

My buddies pannigale does it on every start up, but I think that's due to the larger clearances on the piston rings that Ducati uses on its bikes. 

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1st place I'd look is the airbox.

Check if the carter ventilation spews excess oil pressure. 

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My 1954 Gilera smoked more than an Sioux chief.... 🙂

 

No surprise with  one (of 2) compression rings broken as well as one of the oil scraper rings....

IMG-20200607-WA0003.thumb.jpeg.1ce2171a24cf7f8d52b6be6f974420d6.jpeg

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Agree with Dutchy. Check the airbox PCV. No chance of an overfilled oil situation I guess? Other than that, no idea especially considering your low k's.

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1 hour ago, Grum said:

Agree with Dutchy. Check the airbox PCV. No chance of an overfilled oil situation I guess? Other than that, no idea especially considering your low k's.

I took a look, nothing out of the ordinary. The air box is bone dry! its quite peculiar. 

Oil level is about 1/16" below the max fill line.

 

Maybe its just the oddity of my bike that I'll need to accept haha - i mean they all have their own quirks, don't they?

 

@dutchy - Boy that piston certainly has seen better days, must have run like a champ after a rebuild?

 

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On 7/15/2020 at 8:10 PM, TriumphTraitor said:

Hey all. So it's been about 2 years since I've had this happen now, but randomly during a cold start I'll get a burning oil like Puff of Smoke from the exhaust.

Never happens after long stints of no use though 

Wondering: do you always park the bike the same way?  is it always on the center stand when parked, or always on the side stand? 

 

the thought here is if you park the bike differently sometimes (leaning on the side stand vs. up on the center stand) does that make a difference in whether the engine produces the blue smoke during the next start?

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8 hours ago, TriumphTraitor said:

 

@dutchy - Boy that piston certainly has seen better days, must have run like a champ after a rebuild?

 

 

 

:offtopic:

 

I have yet to find the time (and have dry weather) to take the engine from the frame, split it and clean its internal like the big end.

These engines have no oil filter (the metal gauze in from of the oil pump doesnot count)

 

This an example of what can be expected

IMG_2954.JPG

Source: my pal Renato in Italy https://www.rpw.it/Motori/Gilera150_RE/Gilera150_RE.htm

 

The head (of a donor engine) has been honed/refreshed and a spare piston has fresh compression and scraper rings to be put on later.

1592653480796.png

 

 

1592653570970.png

the rings are yet to be rotated into a specific pattern)

 

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On 7/17/2020 at 5:36 PM, squirrelman said:

as long as it's not using quantities of oil, just ignore it. 🤨 probably valve guide seals.

I guess I'll just ignore it like you said! lol too bad my OCD kicks in haha and the urge to fix something becomes overwhelming

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