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Thread: She blew smoke and died!

  1. #1
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Unhappy She blew smoke and died!

    Hi guys.

    I am not talking about the woman taking the tobacco company to court.

    Riding my bike home tonight, I noticed it started blowing smoke out the exhaust (oily sort of acrid smelling smoke).

    Moments later it started to splutter a bit. I pulled over to let her cool down and tried starting again. The odd pop, followed by a puff of smoke was all she could do.

    I am guessing head gasket. It was sudden. No big bangs or grinding noises - I had just come off the motorway doing 95km tops. [Edit] Water looks uncontaminated by oil.

    My questions:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    1. I live/work around Central Auckland so I am am thinking of calling AMPS. Any other back-up suggestions? Do Coleman's fix old Hondas too? Coleman's are closest too me.

    2. Any advances on my theory about the head gasket?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Its not really urgent to fix because I have a car but it's sitting on a trailer I have for 24 hours so it makes sense to drop it off tommorow somewhere if I can...

  2. #2
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    13th January 2004 - 11:00
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    doesnt ring true as a head gasket-main reason is bike specific- yours is a V twin so it should still run as a 125 even if one gasket has blown.
    The smell of a blown head gasket is usually like rotten eggs
    The acric smell sounds like an electrcal issue.
    I'd give alex at Norwest motor mechanix a yell-he knows the ins and outs of those lil V twins.
    call him on 4168932
    To see a life newly created.To watch it grow and prosper. Isn't that the greatest gift a human being can be given?

  3. #3
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Cheers Frosty!

    Yeah the smell seemed more like burnt rubber or plastic than anything else to me. It's still stuck in my throat now - but there was lots off it filling my rearview mirror and definitly coming out the exhaust.

    And you are right - I would have expected one cylinder to fire.

    Thanks for the recommendation. These bikes are not very common but I think that Honda did some of the 250 sprots bikes with the same engine about the same time. Good to hear of someone who knows the beasts. I will give him a call

  4. #4
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    9th August 2005 - 11:21
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    Damn ApplicatioNZ.. Hope ya get this sorted.

    Let us know how ya get on.
    You can't fight sleep.. if you feel tired, stop and rest!

  5. #5
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    3rd February 2006 - 00:24
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    Quote Originally Posted by FROSTY
    doesnt ring true as a head gasket-main reason is bike specific- yours is a V twin so it should still run as a 125 even if one gasket has blown.
    The smell of a blown head gasket is usually like rotten eggs
    The acric smell sounds like an electrcal issue.
    I'd give alex at Norwest motor mechanix a yell-he knows the ins and outs of those lil V twins.
    call him on 4168932
    Yep your right there frosty, of course, though rotten eggs is a little vauge, more like Weasels crotch after a long ride. Not that I know, third hand information.....

  6. #6
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Thanks DemonWolf.

    I have been thinking it was "definitely from the exhaust pipe" but like a rattled Court witness you can't take my word for it!

    I saw smoke puff out of the exhaust when it went "pop" while I tried to start it up again on the side of the road. That could have been from flooding while I was trying to urge it back to life.

    My lungs are still full of some horrible stinky crap so I am with Frosty on the electrical theory at the moment. Burnt electrical stuff would be a good thing to look for first.

  7. #7
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    13th January 2004 - 11:00
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    Id pull the plugs out and have a looksee what they look like.
    To see a life newly created.To watch it grow and prosper. Isn't that the greatest gift a human being can be given?

  8. #8
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Quote Originally Posted by swantiger
    Yep your right there frosty, of course, though rotten eggs is a little vauge, more like Weasels crotch after a long ride. Not that I know, third hand information.....
    Oh god - that is a VERY nasty thought. Clear from mind clear from mind clear from....

  9. #9
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Good new and bad new.

    The good news is my bike is running again. The bad news is I am a COMPLETE idiot!!!

    Thanks to a call to Alex, I think we have it sorted.

    Impatient people may like to skip to the "short version" at the bottom of the post.

    It all began about 10 days ago. Getting ready to leave for work, I think, "crikey, I had better check the oil". I look at the glass in the dark garage and think I see none in the window. "Better top her up". I pour a bit in and take a look. Can't see any. Pour a bit more in and still can't see any (because its dark idiot). Pour in a bit more and think "better get my ass to work".

    I putt, putt, putt around city streets for about ten days without any problems, then last night, it's late so I take the clear NW motorway for about 2k's.

    According to Alex, the higher revs would have fired the excess oil about until it got sucked up some breather pipes or something into the cylinders, whereupon, it produced lots of nasty smoke and coated the spark plugs with burnt oil, whereupon I came to a halt in Mt Albert.

    Today I cleaned the black oil off the plugs and she fired back into life and after a minute, the smoke cleared and she started to idle smoothly again.

    My plan now is drain oil, fill to correct level, take for a blat to burn the last of the oil out, and finally, spoil her and put new plugs in.

    Short Version: I overfilled the oil and I am an idiot.

    It could have been so much worse though so I am actually pretty happy right now.

  10. #10
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    26th August 2004 - 17:13
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    Quote Originally Posted by ApplicatioNZ
    Short Version: I overfilled the oil and I am an idiot.

    It could have been so much worse though so I am actually pretty happy right now.
    Don't be so hasty to judge yourself so... I did an engine swap and oil change, but failed to do the sump plug up any tighter than finger tight. So it fell out whilest I was riding throwing $40 of brand new oil all over the road, rear tyre, the bike and me. Its interesting to corner when you've got so much oil on the rear tyre...

  11. #11
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    8th November 2004 - 11:00
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    And here was me thinking disintegrated airfilter foam gone thru the engine as I read the earlier post
    Do you realise how many holes there could be if people would just take the time to take the dirt out of them?

  12. #12
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    28th August 2005 - 19:37
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    Thanks

    Thanks for providing the "fix" even though embarrasing. So many 'problem' threads on here never provide the outcome & with all the advice given it feels like wasted time giving it without hearing an outcome as we all learn from others experience / experiences.
    Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow aren’t just the 4 cycles of an engine

  13. #13
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    23rd January 2006 - 19:30
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    Glad 2 hear its all sorted appNZ!!

  14. #14
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    28th September 2004 - 12:00
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    dam

    glad to hear it was just an over fill of oil. sounded like it was gonna get expensive. weird that it took so long for the problem to occur when it was done approx 10 days prior.

    but stranger things have happened.

    and thanks for putting all the problems and remedy ups. never know i may have the same problem somewhere down the track, its good for others to learn from.

    \cheers

  15. #15
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    24th September 2005 - 14:57
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    Thanks guys for not being too hard on me!

    My normal commute is veeery sloooow on urban streets only. This short motorway trip was the first chance I had had to get the revs up since the over-fill. The theory is that it was the high motorway revs what chucked the oil up.

    On the positive side, I have my first roadside salvage experience now so if time allows I can also help other Auckland KBer's if they get stuck somewhere. I have the Falc-hoon with a tow bar, an oldskool scaffhold plank for a ramp, and a pair of ratchet tiedowns. Just have to rent a trailor from the nearest petrol station.

    Just don't ask me for mechanical advice though.

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