[05RedKat600]

No, that is obviously blue dude. But your right, the OP probably thinks what he's seeing is white smoke.


No, they're not. But that doesn't mean that condensation can't get into the engine.

Perfect example on my Kat recently.

Oil sight glass had some condensation on it from not being ridden so much. Started it up, pulled the air cleaner and was watching the breather tube in the airbox. Lots of water vapor out of that, and you could see the condensation in the sight glass until it warmed up sufficiently to evap the water. Short runs on these bikes is terrible for that, they need to be ridden a few miles and not just warmed up to keep the water out.

[scottynoface]

Oh dear, you sure you can replace the headgasket yourself if you thought the bike was watercooled?

[faberz]

im sure. haventr eally paid much attention to the bike since i bought it. I have moderate mechanical knowledge and have done my share of work on cars. Not knowing the coling nethod of the bike is an honest mistake. The bike is parked at my folks so i havent had time to even see what i looks like without fairings. This is why i posted the thread to begin with so i can get some insight before i dive into it.

[mammut89]

change oil and oil filter, empty out the gas and put in fresh gas, detach the airbox water drain plug , let whatever is in there drain out if any, attach the plug again and make sure its on good so you dont get an air leak. try running the bike again.

if that fails to fix you need to look deeper and maybe a gasket or bad valve or whatever. by that time you should read A LOT before doing ANYTING.

Because I see this thread becomming a 3 month long discussion with active members and at the end you give up and buy a new bike and part the currentbike. in that case if this is a 98+ katana I am interested in the headlight.

and nothing I just sad was a joke. because we have seen this happen. However dont feel I am being a douchebag. I am being realistic.

[arsenic]

Because I see this thread becomming a 3 month long discussion with active members and at the end you give up and buy a new bike and part the currentbike.

Yeah, that's usually how it goes.

[mammut89]

http://katriders.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Service_manuals

download the service manual btw

[faberz]

Oh i considered parting it lol. I will get this bike running. I posted it for sale on craigslist but the smoke scared the guy who came to look at it. I already downloaded the service manual. Ii plan on bringing the bike to the inlaws where i will work on it. I wantef to order the gasket kit so i could have it by thr weekend but i will first troubleshoot it to make sure its the gasket. Ill take off the fairings clean it up and run the test mentioned above. Go from there. Essentially this is what i was looking for. Things to check before going aftet the gasket.

[Thomas Dylan]

"I exited and wqas within walking distance from a shop where I bought some oil"

Did you overfill? CHECK YOUR OIL LEVEL!You can not put to much oil in. Do not go above 1/2 the window. If you over fill, the crank will whip up the oil into a "froth" and the oil pump will be pumping foam oil. The engine will smoke like "crazy" because the oil foam will entirely fill the engine.
Now the bad news, the bearings maybe damaged. Drain some oil out, clean the outside of the engine with an engine cleaner spray start the bike and listen for bearing knocks, stop it if you hear knocking, running it will just make in worse. A bad head gasket on this engine will probably leak out and you should be able to see if the head gasket is leaking. It may not be a gasket.

[scottynoface]

You can not put to much oil in. Do not go above 1/2 the window.

May be true for a Katana, but is not true as a general rule for motorcycles. Most Kawis need to be at the top of the fill line, just FYI.

[faberz]

Did you overfill? CHECK YOUR OIL LEVEL!You can not put to much oil in. Do not go above 1/2 the window. If you over fill, the crank will whip up the oil into a "froth" and the oil pump will be pumping foam oil. The engine will smoke like "crazy" because the oil foam will entirely fill the engine.
Now the bad news, the bearings maybe damaged. Drain some oil out, clean the outside of the engine with an engine cleaner spray start the bike and listen for bearing knocks, stop it if you hear knocking, running it will just make in worse. A bad head gasket on this engine will probably leak out and you should be able to see if the head gasket is leaking. It may not be a gasket.

The oil does show a bit overfilled. It's hard to measure the oil level on the bike since it says to stand it for a couple minutes for a correct measurement. I'm getting this froth. I will find most of this information for you guys on Saturday when I plan on taking off the fearings and giving it a clean.

New plugs, oil change, new tires, are lined up. Anything within reason that would be recommended? I don't want to spend more then $500 and the tires alone are at about $250...

[scottynoface]

You have a $500 dollar budget to get the bike running and $250 of that is for tires?

Checking out now, good luck...

[05RedKat600]

I'm kinda with scotty. You really should make it run right before you even think about tires for it.

[faberz]

The reason I say $250 is for tires is because the tires itself are pretty much worn out. I haven't been able to find anything cheaper then that for mounted tires. Maybe if I go a used route..

It's not set in stone that's my preliminary budget..

[jetta90]

I'm going to sound like a broken record here, man............

Don't budget or even think of spending anything on tires before you figure out what's up with that motor of yours. Your first step needs to be to understand why your motor is smoking and your second step will be to figure out what the cost will be to make the motor stop smoking.
It'll turn into a money pit in no time if one is not careful. Just a heads up.

[Thomas Dylan]

If the bike has sat for a few hours and you still see "frothed" oil in the window then most likely the oil is contaminated (gas,water....).