blue smoke.... Should I buy it?

[alexahr2008]

This is my first post so please pardon any forum rules I may have broken.

So I am interested in buying a 89 (red tank black scoops) Vmax and the price is very favorable ($1000 from family at $50 per month) I have no idea what the miles are. What I do know is the Bike has been in the family since 2001 and it has smoked (blue) lightly ever since it was purchased. The bike is in good condition cosmetically as it only gets ridden twice a year.

It has always been said that it could either be piston rings or bad valve guides. However because of the bountiful power the bike still has i am told piston rings are doubtful.

Another issue I have is that the Bike is dry on coolant and has a leak somewhere. The current owner told me it is "aircooled" and it never gets hot and that the cooling system is just a redundancy. this has me very troubled because I assume the radiator is there for a reason.

to sum up it burns oil and it leaks water and the owner never tops off the coolant.

How easy are these problems to fix? is the bike worth a thousand even with these problems? should I proceed and buy the Bike?

Any help is sincerely appreciated.

 

[naughtyG]

I would keep well clear of that bike - do NOT purchase.

Even if the price is very good, the Vmax is definitely not air cooled, and needs every bit of coolant to stay cool especially in hot weather countries. In the southern states a lot of people even fit thermostat bypass switches to get the fan to come on earlier as they tend to overheat a bit.

Blue smoke is also bad - it means the bike is burning oil. If it only runs twice a year it *could* be normal, and clear up once ridden regularly, but there are no guarantees and considering the cooling problems it VERY likely that motor is burnt out.

My advice - find a better one if you can..

 

[KJShover]

Welcome to the forum.

Your smoking could very well be something leaking in the valve train.
As far as "Air cooled" *BUZZZ" wrong, these puppies are very much water cooled.

I would fill it back up with water and coolant, followed with a pressure test before buying.

 

[alexahr2008]

Thank you for your input.

Thats exactly what I thought it would be considering the performance of the bike.

As for the blue smoke it is not a sitting around thing. He frequently adds oil to it.

 

[alexahr2008]

Are these repairs something that I could take care of? I currently work at a shop that has lifts and such. (fixing computers)

 

[Rollie]

I would also do a compression test along with the water / radiator pressure test. It's probably worth $ 1 k in parts , even if the motor has issues. If you want to ride right NOW though , you might want to keep looking.

 

[TurcoLoco]

My 06 will dish out very light smoke for a few seconds only if it sat for longer than a month.
It also does burn tiny bit of oil, I'd say, may be like 1/10 quart (if that) after like 800-1000 miles so that is negligible but I am not sure how much oil he is putting and how often. He might have leak somewhere, perhaps it is leaking into the coolant lines? Have him fill it up with new coolant and run it a while even ride it or have him ride it then after it cools off a bit, check the coolant to see if it got dirty, smudgy indicating a leak into the coolant lines. If it looks clean, then check the oil to see if it is watery or an odd color.
The price seemed too good to be true and with those deals, I typically steer clear off them.

No matter what, do not get emotional and make a rush decision.

Good luck!

 

[rusty]

My last motor didn't burn oil but it had a bad oil ring.Oil would get past it & shoot out the exaust, on to the hot header pipe. Causing it to burn and make blue smoke.It would use about 1/4 of a quart every 1000 miles or so.:bang head:

 

[alexahr2008]

Well The previous owner just told me its a quart of oil every two weeks.

This sounds like a significant amount of oil

Im Leaning very much against it now....

 

[johnpclynch]

Sounds like you'll be spending more on oil than on the bike...
steer clear unless you intend on doing a rebuild

 

[Arlon]

If you do a pressure test you know it all. If the pressure stays behind on one of the cylinders there could be a leak on the head gasket. also clearing the cooling leak.
A quarter every two weaks sounds way to much and clearing the blue smoke.
Keep away fro this bike unless you like to spend a lot of money and work insted of riding.

 

[The Beekeeper]

Your told it uses a quarter qt every two weeks but only gets ridden twice a year?............this doesn't add up to me, it sounds like someone is not being truthful here, I would in all honesty steer clear of this deal as too many red flags are waving here............................Tom.

 

[PATMAX]

A candidate for a parts bike and no more. $1,000 is not a terrible price but you don't know much about Vmaxes yet so you should steer clear of this. At $750, I'd buy it for parts. Don't start off your love affair with Vmaxes with a lemon.
By the way, welcome to this forum. It is invaluable to newbies and old dudes like myself!
You might find a good bike here in the classified ads

 

[Boostmax]

Well The previous owner just told me its a quart of oil every two weeks.

This sounds like a significant amount of oil

Im Leaning very much against it now....

How can he say it uses a quart of oil every two weeks when the bike is only ridden 2 times per year? Dat dont make no sense. :ummm:

RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN AWAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :icon_axe:

 

[one2dmax]

Get it cheap and i'll sell you a good used engine. problem solved and you'll have a decent bike for less then normally found.

Sean

 

[naughtyG]

Which sounds good BUT, this guy says he's in Lima (I assume Peru) so shipping a Vmax motor there would prolly cost about as much as the engine itself!!

 

[Rollie]

Which sounds good BUT, this guy says he's in Lima (I assume Peru) so shipping a Vmax motor there would prolly cost about as much as the engine itself!!

Isn't there a Lima , Ohio ?

 

[naughtyG]

Isn't there a Lima , Ohio ?

Let's hope so! unk:

 

[one2dmax]

Based on his engrish skills and use of the dollar I simply assumed it was a U.S. based address. BUT, it doesn't really matter. We can still ship him an engine anywhere. Most Vmax's are even more expensive overseas so it would still be a good deal.

I'm not the cheapest engine supplier but I do stand behind what I sell.

 

[fmcandrew]

Is there coolant on the ground if added? If not then it is most likely getting past a head gasket and being burnt up in the motor...although this would appear as white smoke in most cases. The fact that no coolant is used would lead me to believe that the heads have long overheated...that's not good. Blue smoke means that oil is getting by the piston rings and into the combustion chamber. A simple compression test or leak-down test will help diagnose bad cylinder(s). Also, drain the oil...is it milky white? That's another sign of cylinder/head trouble. Either way you need to tear the motor down to see what the deal is. Ebay has motors ($800-$1500), so if you find a good deal locally and have some mechanical skills you could have a decent bike for short money. There are lots of options...personally I'd attempt the rebuild...great learning experience and parts availablity shouldn't be an issue.

Just my $.02