Steps to determine cause of bike smoking

Hey guys, I just bought a 1983 Kz1000 police bike. It starts easily but smokes pretty bad. I'm totally new to the bike world and need some help figuring out what to do next. I've read that this can be caused by anything from carbs needing adjustment to valve seals to rings. What do I do first to figure this out? And second and third for that matter. It sounds good and runs smooth but just smokes so bad I could trade places with the mosquito truck...

Hello and welcome.
I am sorry, I cannot help you since my mechanic skills are limited. I will however follow this thread because my kz550 ltd also smokes from side (but it has been sitting for about 10 years and may only need to run for a while, or maybe some carb cleaner, who knows).

Lots of very knowledgeable people here, I'm sure someone competent will chime in soon. I hope you can find the problem. Good luck!
Cheers,
C

If it's been sitting for a while it can also smoke from stuck rings, it can be also caused by old oil. I have had a few that I get started and just run it for a bit and it clears up. I would start with changing the oil and run, see what happens.

You may want to perform a leak down test. If you do a search on this site I believe you will find info on it. Ed

What color is the smoke,black or blue/grey?

Hi folks,
Sorry to jump in like this, but what does black smoke mean? Mine's blue-ish, which means oil is being burnt, right? Not sure what black means... Sorry for being so ignorant about this--I'm sure it's basic to many of you.
C

I would say it is blue to blue-gray color. The reason he said he stopped riding it was because the smoking was getting worse so I'll definitely try the oil change but not really hopeful about that. It looks like it smokes more on the right side (as you're sitting on the bike) than the left. He said it had been sitting a few months but all I had to do to get it to fire up was put in some fresh gas, top off the oil and pull out what I assumed was the choke on the left side. It took a few times to get the gas flowing but then and on subsequent starts it fires right up. I will say that I think it was smoking a lot worse when I had the choke pulled all the way out than later when I pushed it in. Maybe that's just a coincidence, not sure.

Black smoke from the exhaust may result from incomplete combustion, for whatever reason, and emit a gasoline odor.

Blue smoke from the exhaust is usually oil burning, for whatever reason.

Blue smoke that's worse when a cold engine is first cranked up and run, and then smokes less after a few miles when the engine has warmed up, may result from deteriorated valve stem seals.

Good Fortune!

Black smoke is generally fuel related while the blue/grey tends to be oil.
When does it smoke,on start up/under power when you get into it or when you back off the throttle?
If its a new bike to you and you dont know its history Id get it nice and hot and change oil/filter first,then toss some new plugs in it and throw some sea foam in the gas tank and take it out and ride the wheels off of it for a 100 miles or so and see if the condition changes then report back with your findings

Oil filter has been ordered, so I'll pick up some new plugs and that report will be up soon. Also, while i'm changing the plugs i'd imagine a compression test would help to determine the shape the rings are in, correct?

Oh yeah, here's the beast in question.

i would do a compression check while the plugs are out.