White smoke

On mine it was a sort of 99% test to destruction, without actually blowing it up hand grenade style.

If it is a bust ring you have problably damaged the bore beyond repair now anyway. I did a compression test before even when it was smoking and suprisingly not too far out...

I'd hoped the blow up thread might provoke a bit of discussion here regarding the failure mode but it was totally ignored, except for Steve, thanks mate. No probs, less work for me uploading pics of the stage 3 tune rebuild with all the aftermarket bits,

So after checking the plugs cylinder 1 is black and wet with oil while 2, 3 and 4 are black and smell like burnt gas

Ive also read that leaving the bike on the side stand can cause oil to seep into the engine. Could this be a contribution.

If it blows a bit of smoke from cold if not started for a few days on the sidestand, no probs, these are old bikes, likely to be a valve guide oil seal issue., Sort of thing you can just tolerate until the next rebuild, it will quite likely last for years like that,,,as it maybe has already.

In reality, if you change the oii every 1500 miles (recommended) then who cares about losing a liitre for top ups between changes...

if it is making a lot of smoke when hot then likely a ring issue, it will get worse quickly. See my thread and the post mortem on the piston... the bike got worse fast and was billowing white smoke. Puffing blue smoke on the shut down throttle over-run is known, just the white smoke surprised me. ..on an air cooled motor. Maybe a trick of the light in bright sunlight, i had a video to post showing it.

I never noticed to smoke til after the bike sat for a week on the side stand. Thats not to say i didmt just see it before though. The smoke is minimal and only seen when started with the choke all the way up and when given a quick rev. If you guys think it wont hurt the engine i can try to get a video.

My GSX 1100 et was just like that, ok when used daily bit when stood for a week or two much worse on startup as it was i6 valve.

The point being if it clears it's throat soon afterwards I wouldn't worry. Just half a teaspoon of oil will make a smokescreen.

Since your plugs are black and smell like fuel, you are clearly running rich. If you're running too rich you can get what's called 'bore wash' - the fuel can mix with the oil on the side of the cylinders and burn it off.

I doubt this is what's causing the smoke, but you can't rule it out until you fix the fuelling.

On a side note, it's not uncommon to get white smoke from moisture in an air-cooled bike. Water is a by-product of combustion. If it hasn't been run for a while, or hasn't gone for a long ride for a while, the moisture can build up. A good long ride will warm everything up and remove most of the moisture.

The oil level isn't noticeably lower. I dont know if it makes any difference but the longer the bike sits the harder it is to start.

As far as running rich goes, i bought the bike with pod filters and a 4 to 1 exhuast. It seems to be jetted and runs good but i dont know the jet size. How should i go about the bike running rich

Changing the air filters and exhaust will often change the fuel ratio. However, it might just be at idle that it's running rich. If it's rideable, take it for a bit of a ride with the choke off, then switch it off and check the plugs.

Ideally, your fuel ratio will be correct at all revs and engine loads. If you need to enrich or lean out the mixture across the board, you will need to change the jets. If you need to change the mixture for a specific condition (eg. running rich just at idle), you might need a new needle profile. I don't know too much about motorcycle carbs specifically - I know most about SU carbs on old British cars, which are equivalent to a simple motorcycle carb with a single jet and needle, so in my experience, you would fix 'the needle' or 'the jet'. If you have multiple jets, I'm not sure how this changes things.

This was discussed here within the last few days/hours....WOT tuning, 1340cc Katanas and driving licences...Doh!

So is the bike safe to ride do you guys think