I got smoke and it isn't from the exhaust

[Redneck]

Okay posting this here also along with my project thread. I got my "new bike" (79 GS550L) started for the first time about 4 days ago. Before that the bike has sat under a tarp for 3 years. This is the donor bike from a very generous member of this forum. She said it was running when she put it up, because she got a 750 and did not have the money to maintain two bikes. Well true to her word with a little coaxing and a fresh tank of gas the bike has fired back up. It idled very roughly and took some doing to keep her running the first day. The second day she would run well with the choke on. The third day I was able to keep her running with the choke off, but she died about 5 minutes after i removed the jumper cables from my bike (I know I have a bad battery read my project thread for more details). Today I got her running and after about 30 seconds with the choke on the RPMs went up indicating for me to turn off the choke so I did and she idled ever so sweetly and revved up and down as smoothly as the messed up throttle cable would let her. I took off the cable after she had been running about 15 minutes and she continued to run for another 10 before I turned her off. Now the problem lies here. Yesterday she started smoking, not from the tail pipe but from the engine, and not from one spot but from all over. I could not see any one spot in particular that she was smoking from it was just from all over. Today she was running a lot longer before she started smoking, once again from all over no particular one spot but the smoke is all above the crank case. Any ideas as to what the problem could be? I am suspecting possibly the oxidation or just some of the junk that I have yet to get completely off the engine from it sitting under the tarp for so long. Is this something anyone else has experienced. Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks for your time in advance.

[Calvin Blackmore]

Okay posting this here also along with my project thread. I got my "new bike" (79 GS550L) started for the first time about 4 days ago. Before that the bike has sat under a tarp for 3 years. This is the donor bike from a very generous member of this forum. She said it was running when she put it up, because she got a 750 and did not have the money to maintain two bikes. Well true to her word with a little coaxing and a fresh tank of gas the bike has fired back up. It idled very roughly and took some doing to keep her running the first day. The second day she would run well with the choke on. The third day I was able to keep her running with the choke off, but she died about 5 minutes after i removed the jumper cables from my bike (I know I have a bad battery read my project thread for more details). Today I got her running and after about 30 seconds with the choke on the RPMs went up indicating for me to turn off the choke so I did and she idled ever so sweetly and revved up and down as smoothly as the messed up throttle cable would let her. I took off the cable after she had been running about 15 minutes and she continued to run for another 10 before I turned her off. Now the problem lies here. Yesterday she started smoking, not from the tail pipe but from the engine, and not from one spot but from all over. I could not see any one spot in particular that she was smoking from it was just from all over. Today she was running a lot longer before she started smoking, once again from all over no particular one spot but the smoke is all above the crank case. Any ideas as to what the problem could be? I am suspecting possibly the oxidation or just some of the junk that I have yet to get completely off the engine from it sitting under the tarp for so long. Is this something anyone else has experienced. Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks for your time in advance.

It sounds like its gotten close to operating temp for the first time in ages
it may be oil residue and crap in various location

oil level check ok after the incident or no

25 mins is a long time to run while standing still

[Redneck]

Level is still good in the site glass. I have to get new tires before I can road run it. Hopefully get some on the first of the month. Then I can start riding it around the block. But for now it is just being run daily with the exhaust pipes sticking out the garage door.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Like Mr. Blackmore says, that's a long time to sit and idle. In the future put a box fan in front of the motor to keep the air flowing through the fins. This is what we do when we are synchronizing the carbs and have to let the engine idle for more than a few minutes. Running an air cooled engine for long periods with no air flow is not recommended and can seriously kill or injure your bike.


Thank you for your induglence,

BassCliff

[Redneck]

Thanks Bass,

I did not think of that. I will do it in the future. Just want to run it daily so that it can get the gunk out from sitting. I will make sure to steal my wife's fan to keep the bike cool.., I am sure she would not mind.. it is for a good cause...

Paul