Oil Change = White Smoke?

[Spuds1234]

Heres the story. About 2 months ago I bought a 87 GSX750 Katana. Great bike, goes really good, and the engine seemed to be pretty mint. It had all the receipts for the work done to the bike from the last two owners and in the last 12 months it had had $2000+ of work done the the top end of the engine.

After about 2 weeks of riding it, I noticed that the oil in the little window on the side of the engine would be clear before the bike had started and by the time I got to work (a 15 minute drive mostly at 80k), the oil behind the window would look cloudy/foamy and a creamy white colour.

Initially I thought SHIT. But the the oil stopped turning a creamy white colour and I thought nothing more of it.

Since then the bike has been ridden about 2000kms. I've probably put about 5000 on it in the 2 months that I've had it.

A few days ago, the bike wouldnt start. It started, I let of the throttle so it wasnt reving so high and the engine just died. The bike wouldnt start again and the battery went flat with all the cranking. Eventually I got it going with some jumper leads and a truck battery. I got to work, worked, and the bike started without any problems that night when I went to go home.

I got home and pulled out the battery and the levels in it were well down, I topped them up, charged the battery and got a lecture about bike maintenance.

The next day I noticed that the oil was cloudy again. I thought thats no big deal, it'll go away, I'll check it tomorrow morning before I go to work. It was still cloudy the next morning.

So I thought what the hell, I'll give the bike an oil change, its pay day and I've got some time on my hands.

So today rolls around and I do the oil change.

All goes well, I drain the oil, I put new oil in (Valvoline vr1 10w40 synthetic oil from Super Cheap) up to the right level (3.7L of the stuff).

I started the bike and things seemed sweet. No smoke, no weird engine noises, on the ride down the drive the bike changed gears easily, much better than before the oil change. I got back (the engine had pretty much just finished warming up, I probably had the engine running for about 4-5 minutes max) and I notice that its blowing a large amount of white smoke. I killed the engine and left it for about an hour while I diddled around the net looking for answers.

They all said I had water in my oil, but my bike is air cooled and Ive only rode it in the rain once, and I hosed the bike down about 2 weeks ago carefully avoiding the carbs. Thats the only time my bike has gotten wet.

I went back out and started the bike and it seemed sweet again. No smoke, seemed to be running like it usually does. I only had it in neutral and I gave it a few revs. After it had warmed up (after about 1 minute) it started to blow smoke again.

The smoke smells oily (very similar to a two stroke smell), but the smoke doesnt appear to be blue.

What is likely to be the cause of this white smoke? The only thing that has changed is the oil.

Incidently the oil window is still cloudy, but it appears that the white-ness is a stain/crap on the window as it didnt go away with the oil change, and you can see the new oil behind the white.

[Crisis management]

There are three colours to exhaust smoke (generalisation);
White: Steam, from water / moisture.
Black: Unburnt fuel, running rich.
Blue: Burnt oil.

If the smoke is white and its an air cooled petrol engine, its from moisture somewhere. Common sources are water vapour sitting in the exhaust system.
Is the bike parked outside, is it cold in Chch, is it foggy? In other words is there likely to be heaps of water hanging about in the air that will condense in a cold exhaust and steam off when you start the bike?
Try running the bike for half an hour, get everything hot and moisture burnt off and then check.

If its still white smoke its a diesel.....panic!

[Blackbird]

Valvoline vr1 10w40 synthetic oil is for cars as far as I know. It may have nothing to do with your smoke emission, but it could cause your clutch to slip - I'm assuming that the Katana has a wet clutch. Most car synthetics have a chemical in the additive package which is unsuitable. I'd be more inclined to use something like Motul 5100 semi-synthetic 15W-50 which is specifically designed for bikes.

[Spuds1234]

If the smoke is white and its an air cooled petrol engine, its from moisture somewhere. Common sources are water vapour sitting in the exhaust system.
Is the bike parked outside, is it cold in Chch, is it foggy? In other words is there likely to be heaps of water hanging about in the air that will condense in a cold exhaust and steam off when you start the bike?
Try running the bike for half an hour, get everything hot and moisture burnt off and then check.

If its still white smoke its a diesel.....panic!

There was a bit of condensation on the seat when I started it.

The bike does sit outside, but it sits on the ground level of a 3 storey mall carpark.

The weather in Christchurch has been really good lately. It didnt look like steam to me. But I will take the bike for a ride tomorrow morning and see what comes about.

[skidMark]

you have water in your oil

thats my only guess

change the oil to something decent

or ull stuff your clutch...get motul 5100

either that or it's coincedince and uve screwed sum piston rings.

SM

[Spuds1234]

Valvoline vr1 10w40 synthetic oil is for cars as far as I know. It may have nothing to do with your smoke emission, but it could cause your clutch to slip - I'm assuming that the Katana has a wet clutch. Most car synthetics have a chemical in the additive package which is unsuitable. I'd be more inclined to use something like Motul 5100 semi-synthetic 15W-50 which is specifically designed for bikes.

Where is the best place to buy this Motul 5100 Semi Synthetic? How expensive is it usually?

If the previous oil in the bike was just a plain old mineral oil, could changing to synthethetic oil without flushing the engine cause any problems?

[Blackbird]

Usually stocked by motorcycle shops although not everyone stocks it. No, don't use a flushing oil. As long as you drain it while hot and leave it for a while, it will be fine. My last 4 litre pack was about $55 in April.

[98tls]

ive a clear clutch cover on my TLS..........on start up it clouds over and stays until the bike is hot.......usually burns off after 10 minutes or so......if i dont use it again for a while i get the same thing,nothing to worry about at all,my bikes always garaged but moisture will always get in.you can change your oil after every ride but it will still happen.

[Spuds1234]

ive a clear clutch cover on my TLS..........on start up it clouds over and stays until the bike is hot.......usually burns off after 10 minutes or so......if i dont use it again for a while i get the same thing,nothing to worry about at all,my bikes always garaged but moisture will always get in.you can change your oil after every ride but it will still happen.

Might have to take it for a real long ride then. Thats not so bad. I'll just keep close to home, its no fun pushing a motorbike.

[98tls]

Actually if you click on my avatar pic it will show you my profile pic of bike with the window all misted up.

[98tls]

Might have to take it for a real long ride then. Thats not so bad. I'll just keep close to home, its no fun pushing a motorbike.

Thing is mate after the real long ride the moment you switch it of the moisture builds up again......i remember the first time i saw it when i fitted clear cover i thought something was well naffed........busy emailing everyone i knew that had one but they all have the same thing,was a big sigh of relief to find its quite normal.

[Spuds1234]

Mine looks like this
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/675...2964101qk1.jpg

'Scuse the crappy cell phone pic.

[98tls]

Mine looks like this
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/675...2964101qk1.jpg

'Scuse the crappy cell phone pic.

Same as mine.........mine just looks worse as the window area is so large......awhile later its crystal clear.

[Motig]

Could just be that with the colder weather the normal condensation from the the exhaust as the bike warms up from cold is more noticeable.
The milkyness of the oil in the window is probably due to short running. Any moisture in the oil wont get burnt/boiled off as it doesn't get hot enough. The long ride your talking about should help but it'll be back probably after a few short trips. The moisture is just a normal by product of the bikes engine heating up cooling off. Someone with more knowledge could explain it better.

[T.W.R]

Older GSX Suzuki engines have reasonably large chamber casings and breath pretty well so can get considerable moisture build-up in them, having the bike parked outside particularly at a block of flats (concreted area) would allow the engine to draw a lot of moisture when cooling down at night (more so if the bike is covered).
Christchurch is particularly damp at night it is 2m sub sea level & is built on a swamp.

Standard oil for a air cooled suzuki GSX is 20w-50 and being 20yrs old a full synthetic oil would be a hell of a shock to the engine after years of mineral.

As an inherent nature of some oils, when changing brands or viscosity some motors tend to smoke slightly and also going from a mineral to synthetic can do this too.