Lots of smoke at start...leaking valve seals?

[Anonymous]

Hey gang,

My first post here, but I've been reading the forums for a while now and I'm impressed by how dedicated and knowledgable this group of GS riders are.

Anyway, I have an '82 GS1100GK with almost 24k miles. Good running machine - mean brake dive and the clutch slips in powerband sometimes, but from what I've read here that's just par for the course with a stock GS.

My only major complaint is that it's just ugly when I first start it up. The smoke it sends off after a night or two in the garage is pretty nasty: a big cloud of what looks & smells like bluish oil smoke, which is generated by the bike for 5-10 seconds.

My question for you guys is...is this something a lot of GSs do? My inclination is to think that I have bad valve seals, it's leaking oil into the chamber overnight and when I start it up, it burns that oil off - though the plugs obviously aren't fouled because the machine runs like a champ once hot.

The machine doesn't leak on the floor but the oil level gets low over time, so it's going somewhere. But I don't want to jump to the conclusion I need to take the head off and have it serviced when that may not be the case.

Do these things routinely burn oil after sitting overnight? Or do they just "use" oil as you go along, and the smoke is simply a result of the richened choke mixture? Or do you think I really do have a problem with my baby?

Thanks,
Dom

[Mr. Jiggles]

No, GS's don't normally smoke even when starting (other than water vapor "smoke" that happens on cold days). Based on what you described it's almost certain you're burning oil; the fact that it only does it after sitting for a length of time indicates that it is probably the valve guides / seals that are bad.

Is it any worse if you keep it on the sidestand overnight?

[focus frenzy]

Yep, that is the valve stim seals.
sorry

[SqDancerLynn1]

Most likly the valve seals have hardened with age, Requires removal of the head to repair

[saaz]

Valve stem seal problem. Mine does that due to age of the seals. It should only be some smoke at the start, not go on for that long. If it is not using too much oil try leaving on the centre stand as the oil does not pool in the 1 and 2 cylinders as much when starting. Otherwise, I use a bit of wood under the sidestand!

Using the biek a bit more may also reduce (not solve) the problem.

[Anonymous]

thanks

Thanks ladies & gents...

Looks like we have agreement on the valve guides.

When weather permits I use the bike almost everyday, but still this problem persists. I'll try the center stand in the meantime to mitigate the problem.

Thanks for your input on this. Now I'm gonna get out the Clymer manual and evaluate the job.

-Dom