Shmokin 2004 R1150RTP

I learned quite a while back that my bike, left on it's sidestand, might throw a couple of puffs of smoke on startup. Over the past 6 weeks, I've noticed that, if left on it's sidestand all day after my usual 40 miles at 80 mph commute, it will smoke enough to satisfy a haunted house coordinator. It's damn near legendary stuff in an enclosed parking garage. Just at startup. As soon as I rev and pull off, nothing. This is new, such was not the case until recently, the bike is using oil but not dripping it. Is this a cause for concern, or a sign that I need to use the center stand?

anybody?I got samething on my 2001 GS.(51000 miles)

It's normal when the piston rings are in a position where the gap in the ring lies just right to allow oil to seep past while bike is leaning. Happened to me just the other day when bike was unused for a week to 10 days while I was away on vacation. Smoked for over 5 minutes. It just about never does it when ridden daily.

Mine gets ridden around 90 miles a day weekdays. Smoke is after a commute at speed, left on stand for 10-11 hours, right at startup.

Since you have suggested using the center stand, I think you should try that for a few days to see what happens.

mine smokes a bit at startup.

Side stands

Smoking after sidestand storage is why Airhead people park on the centerstand. A habit worth cultivating IMHO I suspect added hydrocarbons from the burning oil could have an effect on O2 sensor and catalytic converter I'd advise park on center stand and don't fret on it. Don't neglect checking that oil though!

The key appears to be allowing sufficient time upright after shutting the bike down for oil to drain from the left cylinder. The smoke referenced was not the light puff that is normal for startup from the sidestand. Much heavier. I think this was from putting the bike on the sidestand before shutdown or immediately after shutdown, rather than leaving it upright for a moment, then placing on sidestand.

Did you add or change oil recently? A slight overfill can cause this, as was the case with mine before I learned the proper routine for checking oil level. You can pull the drain plug at the back of the airbox to see if you have been pumping oil out the crank case vent. I always park my bike on the sidestand when it is hot and then I put it on the centerstand before I go to bed and check the oil level in the morning. I keep the oil level between 1/2 & 3/4 up in the sight glass. Doing this, I have neither smoking issues, nor oil in the airbox.