Smoke from exhaust at head

[Guest]

Just got my bike started up again and I appear to be getting smoke from the area where the #1 exhaust pipe connects to the head. Just to put it in context, the petcock (I think) previously leaked gas into the crankcase, which has been drained and refilled. Also, I changed the shim on exhaust valves #1 and #2.

Thoughts? Do I just need a new exhaust seal or could something else be going on?

[JTGS850GL]

Could be a valve cover gasket leak or just excess leaked oil burning off. Let it run for a little while and see if the smoke goes away. Is there any smoke coming out the exhaust on that side?

[giganticflying]

Yeah, there is a little bit of white smoke coming out of both that smells like fuel. I torn down and cleaned/dipped the carbs and checked the float heights/needles, but I want to get this patched up before I tune with a manometer.

There is some oil residue from a leak I previously had from the half moon on that side. I also put a new head gasket on.

[giganticflying]

I also put a little Hondabond on the half moon.

[JTGS850GL]

If the petcock leaked fuel and contaminated the oil then it's normal for some of the fuel to get down into the exhaust. It tends to break up some of the dried carbon and burns off in a few files of riding. Even if you changed the oil and filter it's still in the exhaust. That will cause some smoking on startup until the mess gets burnt up.

Oil leaking on the header is probably causing the smoke at the #1 header pipe.

In both cases I'd let it go until you've ridding the bike a few times. Maybe degrease the engine to remove any residual oil. If it persists for a while then I'd be concerned. Just make sure you don't have any continuing leaks.