White smoke ,coming out like clouds

[Valkyrie 1500]

 

[dreamaker]

Did you put Seafoam in your gas or something like that, when you start it, it will puff a little smoke till the addtive  is gone.

[chuckie]

possible coolant leak? Head gasket?

[9Ball]

sounds like coolant into the combustion chambers....not good.

[fordmano]

More detailed information needed to even start remote assistance actions.

What's your current coolant level?
What's your current oil level?
Stock motor?
Stock exhaust?
Any additives added to fuel?
Any additives added to oil?
Is the idle smooth?
Will it rev up? Smoothly?
If not stock exhaust then what type/model exhuast is it?
Are all of the header pipes warm at the heads?
Is it really white? Kinda white? Or slightly blue in color?
Any moisture present out of end of pipes?
Have you let it run for a bit of time either at idle or riding it after the smoke starts?

Could this just be collected moisture, dust/dirt or oil inside the exhuast pipes that is burning off after it is fully warm and the piles are all the way up to normal operating temps?

These are a quick few questions without knowing anything about your knowledge level the bikes overall condition how it was stored how it was running prior to storage.
Others will be probably more help than me but most of them have not responded yet. They will soon I am sure.

HeadEd to bed finally, just rolled in from work, I will check back this afternoon and see how the thread is progressing. Have a great day and good luck...
Was the over all bike and outside Air temps cold, warm or Hot?

[Daniel Meyer]

Check the oil for sure...they will do this if there is fuel in the oil...as it warms up the oil will foam...if fuel in the oil you've got petcock and carb issues.

[designer]

Both pipes, unless you have a head gasket leak on both sides I'm doubting head gasket into cylinder. That leaves fuel or coolant into the oil.
Did you add anything to the fuel? Ford is right, we need history of that tank of gas and oil/ coolant maintenance.

[greggh]

+1 on checking the Oil!!
If that check fails, how has the clutch been acting.  I had this issue and the rivets on my clutch were shot----new clutch and all was well.

[Ricky-D]

That can result from a float or two jamming inside the float bowls and letting too much gas get in the cylinders.

***

[TomE]

White smoke = Head gasket, most likely. Its happened to my GL1000 twice.

Pull your plugs and see if any of them look extra clean. If you find one, that's where the leak is. If they all are tan/black/brown, or anything but clean, it's not likely a head gasket leak.

[YoungPUP]

I've seen white smoke come from WAAAAY too much fuel. What did it smell like? Sweet or Fuel? How was it running when this happened?  What were you doing when this happened? What was the last thing you to the valk before this happened?

[Madmike]

you are creating "steam" from one of two likely sources - excess fuel or coolant in the combustion chamber.  One other possibility is liquid (water) in the mufflers - possibly from storage in high humidity (maybe???? never lived anywhere like that) or from someone yanking your chain and playing a trick on you.

COULD be stuck float or needle not seated.... if this is the case you are close to being a prime candidate for filling a cylinder with fuel and tearing up some gears in your transmission.  You may want to err on the side of caution and pull the plugs before you start it up again after sitting, crank it over and see what if anything comes out.

Coolant - assuming it has antifreeze in the cooling system if it is a head gasket it will smell sweet and your coolant level will be down,  Same potential for engine damage if you fill a cylinder.

[art]

At 80000 miles I had the same thing on my 02 .steam coming out of both pipes an water in the oil.I changed both head gaskets an still had the same.I had the heads checked for cracks an milled flat .I also checked the cylinders for cracks .I then replaced the gaskets again an torqued them once again after rinning it for awhile to warm it up.That was 450000 miles ago .All fixed.Did the work myself an saved a lot of money.The valk is easy to work on an kind of fun.I also did a valve relaping too while I had it apart.Very easy.Art

[olddog1946]

MY first thought was coolant, but I agree that smoke out of both sides is not likely a head gasket problem..so, as Daniel said "check the oil"...coolant will turn the oil a murky brown, like hot chocolate.
Excess fuel will thin out the oil and can be identified by smell..and eventually a new motor if not corrected..

[Walküre]

CAREFULLY, see if you can get a smell of the white stuff. Not too close, you don't want to "breathe" it, just get a whiff of it. Does it smell like cooked antifreeze, a rather sweet smell, or does it smell like cooked petroleum products? Like oil or gas...also, how fast does it dissipate? Water or coolant usually dissipates really quickly, and is pretty "whispy" compared to oil, or even excess gas.

Is rather indicative of NOT coolant, coming out of both pipes, unless you have a crossover in your exhaust (some do, I understand).

Another way to tell if there's ANY water in the oil, is take the dipstick out, and hold it over a candle or lighter - if there's basically ANY water in it, it will boil out, and give you bubbles, like the bottom of a pan when it comes to a boil. If it's just oil, it will just get hot, and maybe smoke a bit, but no bubbles. Takes a bit of heat, you'll know - if it smokes without bubbles, you're good.

Also, didn't happen on a bike, but in a car - do you have young children? I had several that decided to play "service station" with the hose - "fill'er up, ding ding!!". Needless to say, same result you had, since I was a little lucky, and the car was almost full, so didn't get MUCH water in, but enough to run fairly well, but white exhaust. Took pulling the dual tanks, and cleaning them out good. Of course, they had decided if water was good, dirt was good, too! Pulled out a small coffee can worth...

Keep us posted.

Just a thought - does anyone have ANY idea what diesel fuel mistakenly put in the bike, would do?

Also, another thought - if you grabbed a can of gas from the garage, could you have grabbed a fuel/oil mix for a chainsaw or something? I have to be REALLY careful - no matter HOW good I mark the can for the mix, for the wife, she grabs the wrong one occasionally, and I end up with a bunch of mixed. Ran it in the Dixon once, and gave a lot of white billowy smoke, also...

R

[YoungPUP]

Depending on the amount, Diesel in a gas engine will foul it out/won't run. In lower amounts it will smoke like hell.