82 1100 White smoke at high RPM

[wilsonsandy07]

1982 gs1100E 17k mi

for the first time today I noticed at the top half of the rpm range-ish, I had some white smoke coming out of my exhaust. It was intermittent, not constantly coming out.

in my experience white smoke is either water or unburnt fuel

the bike has never done this and I’ve pushed it hard, anything I should be looking into? I have a pretty deep ride coming up and would like to take care of any issues

 

[rphillips]

Sounds interesting, really don't remember hearing, or see'in, white smoke from an air cooled eng.

 

[wilsonsandy07]

After some diggin in the forums, common issues seem to be posting rings letting oil into the chamber or valve stem seals.

im going to do a compression test later today and I just did my valve clearances last week, however I did not check seals so I suppose being under the cover could’ve affected something.

 

[Rob S.]

Oil usage up?

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[wilsonsandy07]

Oil usage up?

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No more than usual

 

[rphillips]

Just an old rule of thumb, blue smoke oil, black smoke fuel, white smoke water or condensation.

 

[wilsonsandy07]

I’m going to change my title name, I idled her in the parking lot and it blew smoke with any throttle input.

 

[chuck hahn]

Valve stem leak smoke usually clears off and isnt noticed till next start up. So based on that id say rings. Gotts pull the head to remove cylinders so its an opportune time to do stem seals and freshen up any suspicious looking valve seats. A leak down test will tell you more than a compression check in my opinion. Take off oil cap and listen into the crankcase for a hissing sound. If a intake valve leaks youll hear it from the carbs. Exhaust through the muffler

 

[wilsonsandy07]

Valve stem leak smoke usually clears off and isnt noticed till next start up. So based on that id say rings. Gotts pull the head to remove cylinders so it’s an opportune time to do stem seals and freshen up any suspicious looking valve seats. A leak down test will tell you more than a compression check in my opinion. Take off oil cap and listen into the crankcase for a hissing sound. If an intake valve leaks youll hear it from the carbs. Exhaust through the muffler

I was thinking leak down as well, I knew it was coming eventually but bad timing. Thanks for the input

 

[wilsonsandy07]

#3 plug was defintiely wet with oil, no signs of detonation we will see the results of the leak down/compression check