White smoke from 1100 V-Twin

[G-Man]

Usually at first start-up of the day, maybe every other day.  Smoke stops right away. 

Any ideas?

Thanks

[BonS]

Drain down oil from the heads due to leaky valve seals is a frequent culprit. Worn out valve guides can lead to worn out valve seals. So can old age and sitting around which leads to hardening of the seals and leakage. You might also see a puff of smoke after using engine deceleration when downshifting. What is the age and miles?

[rhinor61]

Good question..
Where is the bike being parked? indoors or outdoors?

How is the coolant level assuming its a water cooled bike?

Pull the sparks out and inspect prior to start up...
Whats their condition?

next
Compression test the engine...

how many miles on the bike?

[Michvalk]

Or, it could be condensation in the pipes

[Robert]

I ll go a bit further out on the limb it could be gas unburned. When you get to much fuel in a engine it does come out as white the same color as water vapor. Considering the 1100's dont have coolant and do have accelerator pumps and the smoke is not blue or oily smelling I post this for consideration. I also agree it could be nothing more than condensation but I would also check stuck floats bad cut off or any thing else that would allow gas to go into the engine or exhaust.

[Challenger]

("Considering the 1100's dont have coolant")
OK, so I had a rare liquid cooled 1100 shadow  that burned coolant, (smoked white) Took a new head gasket to cure it.

[gordonv]

Honda 1100 Shadow is liquid cooled. Which 1100 V-twin?

What does the smoke smell and look like?

[G-Man]

2007 Spirit 1100 with 4,000 miles (so I was told).

I'm sure it sat for a while here and there.  I noticed the puff of white smoke from both pipes (pipes are 2 into 2 with no crossover) after a difficult start, after sitting about a week.  Noticed it every once in a while, usually if she didn't fire up immediately at first start of day.  If she fired right up, no white smoke.

Then I took her apart (tins,assorted bolt-ons, cables, etc.  motor stayed intact) and she sat on a lift for almost a year.  Put her back together, new battery, and same thing.  Rough first start, puff of white smoke.  Easy first start (with choke), no smoke.  Never noticed the odor, and kind of does remind me of a puff or vapor as it dissipates quickly.

[Michvalk]

If it was a head gasket, the smoke should continue after startup, and get worse as it gets warmer. And you should smell the antifreeze burning, especially in close or closed in places. I still think you are seeing condensation in the pipes from the hot/cold translation. I don't think you have anything to worry about, but a compression check should show a bad head gasket.

[BonS]

My good friends very low mileage Valkyrie started out with a small puff of white/gray smoke from the left side exhaust on start up. His puffs were there at 14k miles when he bought the bike after it had been sitting around most of its life. As he would ride and downshift to stop I began to see a small puff of white smoke on acceleration afterwards. The start-up smoke, over time, became more pronounced. Recently, we rode in the mountains and he would stream white smoke after using engine braking on the mountain grades. It seems that the engine vacuum pulls oil in through the valve stem seals. He ended up adding nearly a quart of oil during our trip. We'll be replacing his valve seals shortly. It all began with a small puff of odorless, white/grey smoke that dissipated quickly on start up.

[Gryphon Rider]

My good friends very low mileage Valkyrie started out with a small puff of white/gray smoke from the left side exhaust on start up. His puffs were there at 14k miles when he bought the bike after it had been sitting around most of its life. As he would ride and downshift to stop I began to see a small puff of white smoke on acceleration afterwards. The start-up smoke, over time, became more pronounced. Recently, we rode in the mountains and he would stream white smoke after using engine braking on the mountain grades. It seems that the engine vacuum pulls oil in through the valve stem seals. He ended up adding nearly a quart of oil during our trip. We'll be replacing his valve seals shortly. It all began with a small puff of odorless, white/grey smoke that dissipated quickly on start up.

White/grey odourless smoke points to water or coolant, not oil.  Did your friend's coolant level drop?  I don't have enough engine tear-down experience to confidently recommend a course of action, but I would consider head gaskets before valve seals, especially considering the odourless part.  Vacuum from engine braking could very well be sucking coolant into the cylinders through a gasket leak.

[BonS]

White/grey odourless smoke points to water or coolant, not oil.  Did your friend's coolant level drop?  I don't have enough engine tear-down experience to confidently recommend a course of action, but I would consider head gaskets before valve seals, especially considering the odourless part.  Vacuum from engine braking could very well be sucking coolant into the cylinders through a gasket leak.

His coolant level remains constant but it consumed nearly a quart of oil in about 1100 miles. The start-up puffs were minimal and could of had some smell but I never put my nose right up to the small cloud and I've only seen it start up outdoors and never in an enclosed space. He rode behind me almost 100% of the time as we traveled through the mountains so I didn't smell anything. Riding in the city has fouled one or two of his plugs from time-to-time. Pretty strong indications that it's oil.

Edit: I asked my friend and he does smell oil when he starts in his garage.