• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

my bike smells like a cookout

paddlermikem

paddlermikem

New member
For the last several rides my bike smells like I'm grilling hot dogs. :laugh It's spring and on a couple of rides as I came to a stop light I assumed there was a cook out nearby and it made me hungry. I'm slow but after a few rides I realized it's from my bike. I started looking for melting clothes, hot wires, a dead bird on the engine etc. I can't find anything hot. I'm starting to think it might be the smell of the exhaust! Any ideas?

I recently tried some octane fuel additive to resolve a mild pinging at full throttle that the bike has always had. It did improve the pinging. I used it for about two tanks but the current tank has no additive. Could I have done some damage to something with the additive? Any other thoughts?
 
Look for road tar or drained trans oil on top of the catalytic converter, and if you have them, check the shark fins near the headers.
 
I looked over the catalytic converter, cylinder heads ... and don't see anything hiding there. I did however wash the bike recently and squirt water from the back side of the oil cooler radiator thinking it might dislodge some bugs stuck in there. I wonder if I loosened something that could cause the stink. It seems like it would dry up and disappear after three or four rides.
 
Mmmm, hoppers...

Just a WAG, and I really don't know what it would smell like, but maybe the innards of the catalytic converter are failing? I've heard (but can't confirm) they can put out a strange smell, anybody know what this smells like?
 
Pauls1150 said:
Mmmm, hoppers...

Just a WAG, and I really don't know what it would smell like, but maybe the innards of the catalytic converter are failing?
Click to expand...

When I recently used the fuel additive I didn't measure... just approximated and poured in part of a bottle. Any chance that could damage the converter?

On the other hand I kind of think the smell comes from the front. I've noticed when I slow down I smell it very quickly. If it was from the exhaust I think it might take a moment or two to collect in the air at a stop.
 
I'd think that any "additive" sold today would be requred to be compatible with cats.

I have neighbor who foolishly ran out of gas halfway between No and Where... no stations around, but he was able to buy many bottles of several different additives. Poured 'em in & got to a gas station, no harm (yet...). I never asked about the smell...

I'd advise against a lot of "Heet", tho - too much alcohol.
 
paddlermikem said:
On the other hand I kind of think the smell comes from the front. I've noticed when I slow down I smell it very quickly.
Click to expand...

You obviously have a chicken stuck in your oil cooler. I hope you got the rotisserie option when you bought the bike. Yes, I know, no help whatsoever but what were you expecting after three days of no answers? Your bike smells like a BBQ - its a great conversation starter. :laugh
 
Not the whole chicken, just nuggets...:eat

Another possibility: the slave cylinder to the clutch is starting to weep, and the fluid just hasn't made it to the outside world yet. How's the level up in the master cylinder?

Have you pulled the tank? A very close scrutinizing of ALL wiring would be in order. Get yer nose right in there.
 
Last edited:
Cooked Cat................Doesn't smell like Poutine

I'm not sure what you are describing as your stink and you have had a whole pile of experts way in. A catalytic convertor that has suffered media separation, whether it be Palladium or Platinum, in some, Silver and good old fashioned Pewter is usually caused by a severe overheat and quick cool soak, usually in the winter, will smell like rotten eggs. That smell may disappear after a few cycles providing the phenolic matrix or honey comb hasn't blown apart. If you had a very high EGR cycle, which I don't think your bike has, could cause the rotten egg smell. The usual mode to failure in that circumstance is usually started with complaint of stalling after high throttle inputs and sudden throttle demand to idle.

Of course, everything you read on this forum must be true because it's on the club blog.

Yours could be the same as mine, that happens every year at the same time, without fail, regardless of the ride............calcium chloride from the leftover de-ice on our roads during the winter. Washing the crap off every day and making your ride shiny and new every day, just makes you a grumpy fart when you get home and have to do it all over again.
 
In answer to your question.......

I think the word you are looking for is FARTS...................(just a thought)

Pauls1150 said:
Mmmm, hoppers...

Just a WAG, and I really don't know what it would smell like, but maybe the innards of the catalytic converter are failing? I've heard (but can't confirm) they can put out a strange smell, anybody know what this smells like?
Click to expand...
 
Oh no... this will clear it up

OK bigger problems. This doesn't clear it up for me but I'm sure someone will know the problem. I had it out the other day and got to a passing lane on a hill. When I opened it up to get around a slow vehicle I started a trail of white smoke. I think it was mostly white. I got to the top of the hill and pulled over. I intended to get off the bike and look closer at the smoke but there was so much I was afraid for a second that whatever was causing the smell had heated up and caught fire. Not so, as soon as I shut it off the smoke stopped.

I headed back down the hill and on the few miles toward home. Surprisingly there was no smoke. Just to test it I opened it up for a second one more time on a hill just long enough to see the smoke start again.

I'm swamped at work so now it sits in the garage. My novice mind assumes the head gasket but a friend suggested that since it is oil cooled it should have made a black smoke. I'm also wondering how it could relate to the smell. One of you probably knows...?
 
paddlermikem said:
OK bigger problems. This doesn't clear it up for me but I'm sure someone will know the problem. I had it out the other day and got to a passing lane on a hill. When I opened it up to get around a slow vehicle I started a trail of white smoke. I think it was mostly white. I got to the top of the hill and pulled over. I intended to get off the bike and look closer at the smoke but there was so much I was afraid for a second that whatever was causing the smell had heated up and caught fire. Not so, as soon as I shut it off the smoke stopped.

I headed back down the hill and on the few miles toward home. Surprisingly there was no smoke. Just to test it I opened it up for a second one more time on a hill just long enough to see the smoke start again.

I'm swamped at work so now it sits in the garage. My novice mind assumes the head gasket but a friend suggested that since it is oil cooled it should have made a black smoke. I'm also wondering how it could relate to the smell. One of you probably knows...?
Click to expand...

Check the airbox drains, sounds like you are sucking something into the intake. Head gasket would leak the same, not dependent on throttle position, so it would smoke all the time.

Never done it so I don't know the symptom, but is the crank case overfull? High RPM could cause the oil to get into the intake through the breather if it was. Maybe someone can chime in on the separator system on these, for the crankcase vent. I don't know if that coule be an issue.
 
pffog said:
Check the airbox drains, sounds like you are sucking something into the intake. Head gasket would leak the same, not dependent on throttle position, so it would smoke all the time.
Click to expand...


When you say the airbox, do you mean the box that houses the air filter? Maybe a mouse or somthing got up there. I'll check it tomorrow.
 
paddlermikem said:
When you say the airbox, do you mean the box that houses the air filter? Maybe a mouse or somthing got up there. I'll check it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Yea, the large box AFTER the filter, look for pooled oil or water in the bottom of the box. There are a couple drains that should prevent accumulation.
 
R1100rt

I don't know if it is the same design...
My airbox has a rubber plug in the bottom of it, accesible from the bottom, in front of the rear fender.
I pull it occassionally and it has a thin coating of oily stuff on it. Nothing drips out.
Just an idea.
 
Here's another opinion which might be worth exactly what you're paying for it...:D

In my experience white smoke indicates water, black smoke indicates unburned fuel, blue smoke indicates oil. If you're certain you were seeing white smoke you may have, as others have suggested, an accumulation of water in your airbox. Done any water crossings lately?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
2010 K1300GT : I smell gas after a short ride
Replies
4
Views
237
gtrider
gtrider
tangoalpha
Bmw r1150rt burning clutch smell
Replies
6
Views
1K
tangoalpha
tangoalpha
dfisher1
2023 F750GS issues
Replies
8
Views
3K
stormbringer
S
Boxflyer
12001250 WetHead/ShiftHead TechDays Weekend in New England 7/22 & 7/23
Replies
0
Views
453
Boxflyer
Boxflyer
pauls1150
Adding Parallel Battery Cables
Replies
7
Views
2K
mikegalbicka
mikegalbicka
Back
Top