White smoke coming from crank case

[Twowheeledlife]

I have a 1977 GS550 and if it runs for about five minutes it starts to smoke from the crank case breather. I'm running pods so I bought a filter for the breather as someone suggested. Its a white smoke and has a slight smell of gas, is this something that I need to be worried about? As always any tips would be appreciated!

[GS(X)400]

Does your oil smell like gas?

[Twowheeledlife]

Only slightly, but yes

[GS(X)400]

I would hazard a guess thats your problem

[Twowheeledlife]

Any suggestions on why that's happening? One site that I saw said that it could be gas flowing from my petcock while the bike is off causing my float bowls to overflow into my intake manifold, would this be accurate?

[koolaid_kid]

Yup. First, yes, you should be concerned. Second, time to debug your fueling system. Look for things like a faulty petcock, sticky needle and seats, float levels too high, etc.

[Twowheeledlife]

Would I be able to put my own shut off valve in line before the fuel reaches the carbs and change my oil? Would that possible eliminate my issue because I feel that I do have a petcock issue

[koolaid_kid]

If you have a vacuum petcock fuel should not flow when it is in the ON or RES position. However, don't bother changing the oil until you fix the problem.
Let me find you some instructions on debugging your petcock. I'll repost back here in a bit.

[hjfisk]

Would I be able to put my own shut off valve in line before the fuel reaches the carbs and change my oil? Would that possible eliminate my issue because I feel that I do have a petcock issue

You could or you could just order a new 1 from Z1 ;
# KL-4358--- $57.40
Plus you want to get that oil changed , gas in the oil is bad for motor and clutch

[koolaid_kid]

Don't buy any parts until you isolate the problem.
Do this:
get a drain pan or can.
place the petcock in ON position
pull fuel line and place in can
It should not drip at all
place in RES position
It should not drip at all
pull vacuum line
no fuel should be going through vacuum line
suck on vacuum line
fuel should flow through fuel line
If it passes all these tests, it is not the petcock.
post back with your results

[Twowheeledlife]

I've found that just because something shouldn't happen doesn't mean that it won't. But I think I have a vacuum issue because if my bike sits for a day or two when I take it off the stand it will drop some gas from my float bowl overflow and I can't see why else it would do that

[koolaid_kid]

It could be multiple issues. First, find out where the fuel is coming from. The vacuum line or the fuel line. Second, why is your needle and seat not sealing correctly. Test, test, test. When you have peeled away all the layers of the onion, you will have a parts list that you need to fill out and order. Figure out all the issues before you start spending money.

[Twowheeledlife]

My gas line has a steady drip when my petcock is in the "on" position

[hjfisk]

My gas line has a steady drip when my petcock is in the "on" position

So you have confirmed a bad petcock. Now why is it flooding the motor? is it that the float level is set incorrectly or do you have bad needle and seats on 1 or more carbs?Or is there rust or some other foreign matter missing things up on you?

[Twowheeledlife]

I'd say a bad petcock, yes. I know that it's not any foreign material in there, I recently cleaned them very thoroughly so I'm not sure what else it would be seeing as I'm not too familiar with carburetors