Suzuki GS650GL White Smoke from Right Exhaust

[Guest]

Hi

My Suzuki GS650GL occasionally has white smoke coming out of the right side exhaust only. It doesn't happen every time I ride my bike, but it when it does it is a pretty big amount of smoke. Usually I notice it when I get off the highway onto a road with lights and am going slower stop/go through traffic. After a couple minutes of riding in traffic like this it usually goes away. It also happens when I first start it sometimes.

Any ideas what could be causing this or tips on what to look at to troubleshoot this more?

[tom203]

White smoke? Oil level correct? Simple stuff first....Check to make sure all plugs are firing all the time, maybe you have weak ignitor due to low voltage, so do posplayr's quick test and report all 6 results

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?164993-Charging-System-QUICK-TEST/page2&p=1272192#post1272192

is this bike new to you? Have you checked valve clearances?

[The Artful Bodger]

Sounds like possibly a valve stem seal problem,. Coming down from a reasonable speed with the throttle shut off the inlet develops a lot of vacuum since it's turning over fast but the carb slides are down restricting the air flow. This high vacuum will draw oil down through the stem seal causing smoke (I know because mine does it, must replace the seals soon!). Ticking over at the lights will be smokey as the drawn down oil is working its way through, as soon as you pull away it will clear in a short time as it burns off.
Same goes for starting up as the oil can drain down past the stem seals once the engine is stopped and left for a while. On start up it will smoke until the oil has burnt away, it's surprising how little oil it takes to make a fair amount of smoke and it doesn't instantly clear with a rev up.
Colin

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I agree with the valve stem seal opinion.
The seals harden with time. "Smoking" is generally worse with a cold engine. Depends on valve position at turn off. As it warms up the seals swell some and the oil slipping past the seals into the combustion chamber lessens.
Parking on the side stand often exposes leaky seals due to how the oil puddles after you turn it off. The deeper the oil above that valve, the greater the amount can leak through a given seal.
Other than replacing them, a couple things you can try that may help reduce the leaking upon cold start up (overnight parking)... right after you turn off the hot motor, try pumping the forks up and down a few times to help the hot oil drain better from the valve area and park it on the center stand. Thicker oil can help too but can cause clutch drag and other issues in some models.

[illwillest79]

hello am new to this but my my 1979 gs1000 got white smoke coming out my exhaust pipe i got a vance and hines i got white smoke coming out my fuel line filter its white not blue i just got this bike did the basic tune up carbs cleaning oil change spark plugs on startup it smokes but it smoke for a while but the bike dont have center stand on it could that be the problem i dont know i dont know much about motorcycle