71 r75/5 - Smoking on Startup

[chefnation]

Hi all, just getting to know this bike. last couple of cold starts I'm getting some white smoke from left cylinder. goes away pretty quick. doesn't smoke at all warmed up. I keep it on the center stand. Jim

[20774]

You park it on the center stand, but do you put it on the side stand when you get up to your garage, open the door, and then roll it inside?

You could try leaning it over to the right for maybe 20-30 seconds, then put it on the center stand. See if the issue continues.

[gtgt_bangbang]

cold starts I'm getting some white smoke from left cylinder. goes away pretty quick. doesn't smoke at all warmed up.

then ride it

[chefnation]

You park it on the center stand, but do you put it on the side stand when you get up to your garage, open the door, and then roll it inside?

You could try leaning it over to the right for maybe 20-30 seconds, then put it on the center stand. See if the issue continues.

I do put it on side stand get off then rock it on center stand. so if rings were bad it would smoke all the time?

[chefnation]

then ride it

good advice. I know these motors are quirky. if the rings were bad it would be a smoke show down thew street

[STEVENRANKIN]

Depending on how cold you are talking about, you might get a bit of water vapor in one or both pipes which goes away when the bike warms up. Yeah, one of the airhead traits is if you leave them on the side stand long enough you get a tiny bite of seepage of oil. Nothing to worry about. LOL, worry when you see a cloud behind you or the performance has dropped because the rings are shot.

FYI, if you ever see WW2 documentaries of guys pulling the props through by hand on the radial engines, the oil collection on the bottom cylinder was enough that trying to start the engine cold could blow a head off. Oil doesn't compress well. Of course those engines had a large oil tank for each engine and burned gallons of oil along with multi gallons of gas. St.

[20774]

Not sure if the rings are bad...only a compression or leak down test would tell you that. But it's possible that the rings have naturally rotated such that the gaps in all three have aligned at the bottom. So the small bit of time on the side stand might allow for the oil to work past the rings. So next time before getting off the bike and putting it on the side stand, just pause for 30 seconds...even lean the bike slightly to the right...to let the oil drain back to the sump.

[m_stock10506]

I'm going to say what others have already, just a slightly different way. When you are done riding, turn off the petcocks, turn off the ignition, then while still straddling the bike, lean the bike to the right for 15-20 seconds. Then you can put it on the side stand while you "park" it, then put it up on the center stand.

[Omega Man]

Many engines come to “rest” in the same spot once the ignition is turned off. You can try a quick bump of the starter, not enough to restart, to let the engine “rest” in a new spot and see if changes the situation.
In any case, I wouldn’t worry about it too much especially if you don’t notice any “real” oil loss.
OM

[chefnation]

thank you all

[69zeff65]

You live in Ma, New England correct? This time of year its humid and cold. After your ride and shut down the bike goes in your garage and cools off, condensation builds up in your exhaust system. When you start up that blast of hot exhaust turns the condensation to vapor and exits out the tail pipe. Why only the right side ? Could be that the bike is parked up close to the wall and tit cools down slower or it could be the oil deposits from the left side breather tamp down the water vapor and cause it to be less noticeable.