Smoking-Second Opinion Please

[kalbo]

Firstly, some background information. I have only recently got my Vmax. When i got it , it had straight through pipes and the fuel/air carb screws were 'all to hell'. The rear right side was almost completely out (9 turns) and almost completely unseated. It appeared to have been like this quite a while. I have since replaced the exhaust system for 'original' and have re-set the carbs. I haven't really run the bike at high RPM's since I've had it and have pretty much done all my riding around town, with a lot of stop/start in traffic and under 50mph.
Today, I decided to go for a decent run on the bike and visit a friend who lives about 80 miles away. I took the freeway. The bike was running great, with plenty of power and cruising at about 80-90mph. I was about 5 minutes into my journey, when I noticed a lot of grey smoke coming from the right muffler, nothing from the left. There was no loss of power, but fearing the worst, I left the freeway at the next exit, turned around and headed home, taking it easy. heading back, I noticed that there was no more smoke coming from the right muffler, so i increased speed and took her back up to 80-90mph. She ran fine, with plenty of power and no sign of any smoke. I stopped at a friends house on the way home, who suggested that the smoke may have been something in one of the cylinders as a result of its previous poor carb setting and that running her at higher RPM's may have cleared it resulting in the smoke for a few minutes. She is running on 4 cylinders, and oil and coolant levels are fine and theres no more smoke. Does this sound right? If not, what else may have caused her to smoke out of one muffler? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[The Beekeeper]

Could have been some contaminants in the replacement exhaust you installed, if your fluid levels are holding and it's running good I would take it out on the highway again and see how it goes, you could also pull the plugs and see how they look....................Tom.

 

[adambweird]

Ive had that happen from a bad sync a couple of times when I was still using my Motion Pro (fluid levels were getting low).

 

[caseyjones955]

Carbs out of adjustment can do that. You could still have one running rich. Glad it stopped, if it happens again you could read the plugs and see if they have a story to tell.

 

[tothemax93]

Sounds to me like your just clearing her throat. Just keep a good eye on it.

 

[kalbo]

Could have been some contaminants in the replacement exhaust you installed, if your fluid levels are holding and it's running good I would take it out on the highway again and see how it goes, you could also pull the plugs and see how they look....................Tom.

I went and spoke to the mechanic that I got the used exhaust system from and he told me that he had sprayed the inside of the system with a homemade mixture of oil and kerosene, before he fitted it, to help prevent corrosion. It's been 3 weeks since it was fitted, so I'm surprised that it hasn't dried out already. I guess there might have been some remaining in the right muffler? It would be great if it was as simple as that.

 

[Zeus36]

My guess: Since you kept your RPMs low, the mufflers probably did not get hot enough to burn off the oil/kerosene (blue would have been oil, gray to black for kerosene). It may have collected in a low point. Depends on how much and how equally the mechanic sprayed the mixture into the system and the right side may have gotten more. Also he installed that exhaust...
During your freeway ride, it got hot enough to vaporize it off.

 

[kalbo]

My guess: Since you kept your RPMs low, the mufflers probably did not get hot enough to burn off the oil/kerosene (blue would have been oil, gray to black for kerosene). It may have collected in a low point. Depends on how much and how equally the mechanic sprayed the mixture into the system and the right side may have gotten more. Also he installed that exhaust...
During your freeway ride, it got hot enough to vaporize it off.

Due to the fact that the bike has had no loss of power, oil or coolant, the Oil/Kerosene that had been sprayed into the exhaust seems to be the most likely cause. I think you are right Zeus36, despite the fact it was fitted 3 weeks ago, I just haven't got the bike hot enough, and a little amount had found a hiding place. A constant 90mph for 5 minutes yesterday did the trick and burnt off the remaining. I wish the mechanic had told me what he'd done, it would have saved me a sleepless night. I will pull the plugs and replace them today anyway, just to check all is well.