Smoking head!

[Guest]

Hi all- I just did my first breakdown and deep clean of carbs on my 79 GS425. Got everything set and fired her up- best she's ever run! After a little choke she idled a little rough but much better than before. I opened up the throttle a bit and smoke was pouring out of my right front exhaust pipe where it comes out of the header (right side being throttle side, not clutch side).

I was excited about the bike starting after my first carb clean, but am worried about the smoke from the right exhaust pipe connection.

Also, before I did carbs I took her for a short spin and found that the left side exhaust pipe was really hot and the right side pipe was cold - even after a good 10 mins. After just a couple minutes idling tonight both pipes are hot, but I can't figure out the smoke!

Any thoguhts?

Im going to tackle valve clearances next - might that help? Is the shim club still on?

thanks for all the great help and support here. Much appreciated.

[Big T]

I wouldn't be too concerned at this time about the smoke. Check to see if the valve cover is leaking oil down on the pipe

Do your valve clearances, then sync the carbs

I'm pretty sure the shim club is still working

[greg78gs750]

what he said, valves, synch, then run it hard. might just clear up.

edit: wait, out of the header connection? should not see smoke there, might want to pull the exhaust, put some new exhaust seals in, retorque. Be careful pulling those bolts, if they havent been off in a while you might wanna soak with some pb blaster or something for a while, sheared exhaust bolts are a bit of a hassle....

[Drummert]

I had the exact same thing happening to my bike last week! Also pulled and cleaned the carbs and airbox and now I also have smoke coming from the right exhaust header. Soaking the clamp in evaporust for now and I'm gonna try and get it of the head tomorrow. Let's hope for the best...

[Gs425FridayHarbor]

I had the exact same thing happening to my bike last week! Also pulled and cleaned the carbs and airbox and now I also have smoke coming from the right exhaust header. Soaking the clamp in evaporust for now and I'm gonna try and get it of the head tomorrow. Let's hope for the best...

i got the clamps off and exhaust out. I didn't see anything too curious and problem seems to have subsided now that I'm running cold on the right again. Would like to know how things played out for you? Thanks.

[Drummert]

Would like to know how things played out for you? Thanks.

Well, the exhaust is still in there, one of the bolts broke off... And apparently the exhaust rusted all the way through. I'm looking into ways of fixing it now.

[Drummert]

I took all the other bolts out today with some help of a creme-brulee burner ^^ The left part of the system emmidiately dropped to the floor, apparently the bracket on the end had rusted all the way through as well. I decided to go for a full new system. So now I need to find myself one...