Yesterday I noticed blue smoke coming from the exhausts... I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but obviously bike is off the road for now. I always warm her up before riding, so I’d be surprised if I had missed this developing... however, it occurs on throttling, which obviously I don’t do whilst the engine is warming. Paul at PGP is picking her up Monday to take a look, but I thought I’d ask here: what are the likely causes? I also noticed yesterday a bit of what looked like dots of coolant spray on the front forks on the right side (green liquid, slippery feel). The expansion tank was new about a year ago, so unlikely that that has gone again so soon. I hope it’s not my neglect, but anyway I’m just grateful nothing went pop when I was riding her...
Check inside the airbox and see if you have a lot of oil, might show if you have heavy blowpast. Unless you have been doing a lot of wheelies........
Blue smoke is usually a sign of burning oil, white smoke condensation or water, could be one of a few things, valve oil seals, worn piston rings , over filled the oil. Hope it's not serious.
Glad to report bike is healthy: just got it back from Paul at PG Performance. He couldn’t replicate the smoke at all, including after a 15 minute blast. Very weird. The oil was slightly overfilled, so he took out a bit. But just glad the bike is okay. Actually, part of me was hoping for an excuse to fiddle with the bike in the search for a bit more oomph on the straights at track days... so we got talking... I can’t afford to go to town on the engine at the moment. We discussed high comp pistons, but Paul said engine starting can be a problem with the standard starter motor. I also have a lithium battery, so that would be even worse in winter. So not really a practical proposition. So we got talking about weight saving and unsprung weight... I’ll post a new thread on this to get your collective input...
Mine has been tuned until it squeals, in order to stand some chance of starting, I changed the starter gears for 998 ones which are a different ratio. Starting was still pretty poor until I fitted some upgraded starter cables from this forum, now it turns over like it means it. Running a race lithium battery as well
Ha ha, yes no doubt that’s the most cost effective route... I reckon I have about 5 kilos I could lose that way to reach my favourite weight (73 or 74 kilos)...
Very tempting... yes Paul mentioned the starter motor and cables could be improved. Does it start in winter okay? I do use the bike all year round... mine turns very slowly in the cold months, and as it is I have to put the lights on for a while to warm the lithium battery up...
Very tempting... yes Paul mentioned the starter motor and cables could be improved. Does it start in winter okay? I do use the bike all year round... mine turns very slowly in the cold months, and as it is I have to put the lights on for a while to warm the lithium I bought my race leathers when I was at my slimmest (on a ketogenic diet... don’t ask) so they’re tight anyway LOL
When my 999 started blowing blue smoke and burning oil it was due to a scored piston (££££). As you have twin pipes you should be able to see which pipe any smoke comes from therefore showing which cylinder has any potential issues.
Thanks, yes I was afraid it might be something like that. I had a bit of blue smoke again today, coming from the left exhaust. But it seems intermittent: on the outward journey I saw blue smoke for 30 seconds when I parked up, then it was gone. On the return, no smoke at all. I’ll keep an eye on it for now.
Thanks Ducv2. As you can see from my post today, it seems there is still some blue smoke from the left exhaust. If I have to have it looked at, then whilst we’re in there...
