YBR 125 pale white smoke

russell664 · 7 Apr 2016 at 22:16

Hi guys,

So I have been riding around on my YBR 125 (2011) with 8k on the clock for about a month now. However, today I have noticed something which I am unsure is out of the ordinary...

I got back today (raining massively!) But had a feeling to look for some white smoke as I noticed some when in traffic when the wind blew (thought it was just from cars) but it turns out that when I rev the bike on the side stand as an example, there is a slight cloud of white smoke coming from under the engine. It isfr the very bottom of the bike, near where the exhaust pipe. I have made sure that it isn't coming directly from the exhaust, it seems to be directly in the middle.

My question is, could this be down to needing to top up my oil? I'm going to check all the levels tomorrow evening as I'm not using the bike tomorrow, but have a two way trip about 80 miles each way and want to make sure I'm not damaging it.

Best in mind I clean the bike weekly, and lube the chain at the same time to get rid of any salt lingering.

It just noticed it, so unsure how long it has some it for. It seems to be running OK, sometimes the clutch isn't as responsive as I lke but I guess that is down to riding a XJ6 in lrep for my bike test later this month.

Any advice on this would be great please

IC3 · 7 Apr 2016 at 22:51

Water goes into the exhaust, the exhaust gets warm whilst engine is running and the water evaporates. Same goes for the engine, it gets warm and the dripping water onto it evaporates... that's perfectly normal.

If you see blue or black smoke, that's when you get to worry.

Kreeeee · 7 Apr 2016 at 22:53

White smoke is caused by burning oil.

russell664 · 8 Apr 2016 at 08:25

Thanks guys.

So is this something I should worry about, or simply ignore?

tom_e · 8 Apr 2016 at 08:37

IC3 said:
Water goes into the exhaust, the exhaust gets warm whilst engine is running and the water evaporates. Same goes for the engine, it gets warm and the dripping water onto it evaporates... that's perfectly normal.

If you see blue or black smoke, that's when you get to worry.

This

Kreeeee said:
White smoke is caused by burning oil.

I think Kreeee is drunk.

russell664 said:
Thanks guys.

So is this something I should worry about, or simply ignore?

No, it sounds very much like steam. Rain + hot engine, you know the rest.

The Deuce · 8 Apr 2016 at 08:39

Kreeeee said:
White smoke is caused by burning oil.

no it's not. it caused by condensation, burning oil causes brown/blue smoke.

Dogbreath · 8 Apr 2016 at 11:07

The Deuce said:
no it's not. it caused by condensation, burning oil causes brown/blue smoke.

An engine burning oil causes white smoke which has a visible blue tint (caused by Tyndall scattering).

However I think the OP is saying it's not coming from the exhaust:

russell664 said:
It isfr the very bottom of the bike, near where the exhaust pipe

That doesn't quite make sense, near where the exhaust pipe what? Where it joins to the header? Where it passes under the gearbox?

You could have an oil leak from the engine which is dripping onto the exhaust. This would be noticeable by the patches of oil on the ground where you park.

wazza300 · 8 Apr 2016 at 11:15

Check your oil level first,then look for leaks underneath around the sump,sump plug area

Kreeeee · 8 Apr 2016 at 11:22

What's with the random responses saying it cannot be oil?

A bit of steam in the rain is fine, but as the OP said this happened even after testing the bike afterwards.

The slight blue tint from burnt oil is not always very noticeable in some lighting conditions, and especially if it's not coming from the exhaust. The smell should be obvious though if it is oil, it's nasty.

The Deuce · 8 Apr 2016 at 11:23

Dogbreath said:
An engine burning oil causes white smoke which has a visible blue tint (caused by Tyndall scattering).

this might help you with that

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/04/what-does-the-smoke-from-my-exhaust-mean-.html

russell664 · 8 Apr 2016 at 12:21

Dogbreath said:
An engine burning oil causes white smoke which has a visible blue tint (caused by Tyndall scattering).

However I think the OP is saying it's not coming from the exhaust:

That doesn't quite make sense, near where the exhaust pipe what? Where it joins to the header? Where it passes under the gearbox?

You could have an oil leak from the engine which is dripping onto the exhaust. This would be noticeable by the patches of oil on the ground where you park.

Apologies, I wrote the initial post of my phone.
I have noticed a small wet looking patch in the place I park the bike - if it was oil would it have a smell associated to it? - I will check when I get home.

Last time I checked the oil the sump cap was very tight, I didn't put it back on as tight, but when I looked yesterday it didn't look like a drips were coming from it.

I will check the oil later, and take a couple of snaps of where I think I seen the pale smoke coming from. It was from directly underneath the engine, in the middle. The exhaust connection to the header is near the top of the engine at the other side so it can't be that.

As a quick illustration, this is where I think it was coming from, directly in the middle of the flat part of the engine bottom:

[/img]

tom_e · 8 Apr 2016 at 12:27

IIRC the gold looking bolt in that picture is the sump plug isn't it?

Give the area around it a good wipe down, then put some baby talc around the plug and leave it overnight if it's seeping oil you'll see it in the talc.

If you've loosed off the sump plug then retightened it without replacing or flattening out the crush washer it may just be seeping oil out the threads which is then running down and pooling on the bottom of the engine case and dripping on your header pipe.

wazza300 · 8 Apr 2016 at 12:39

you'll only see white smoke/vapour from a cold start anyway,for about the first ten minutes then when the exhaust gets hot enough it will clear,

if its doing it after a long 80mile commute then its oil burning and you'll smell it aswell,either that or the head gasket is failing or about to,but they usually go fairly quickly and at 8k I doubt its that

if your oil level isn't dropping then I wouldn't worry too much tbh

check the cam cover gasket aswell,they usually leak a lot

Kreeeee · 8 Apr 2016 at 13:06

russell664 said:
if it was oil would it have a smell associated to it?

Only when burnt.

russell664 · 8 Apr 2016 at 13:40

tom_e said:
IIRC the gold looking bolt in that picture is the sump plug isn't it?

Give the area around it a good wipe down, then put some baby talc around the plug and leave it overnight if it's seeping oil you'll see it in the talc.

If you've loosed off the sump plug then retightened it without replacing or flattening out the crush washer it may just be seeping oil out the threads which is then running down and pooling on the bottom of the engine case and dripping on your header pipe.

The only thing I have loosened is the dipstick and that is on the other side - which was really tight to begin with. I have spoken to the guy who I got it off, and he is happy to take a look at it to see if things are in order tomorrow.

To be honest I have noticed an odd smell, but have put it down to cars around me, I mainly notice it when stationary. I'll take pictures on the place I put the bike - and underneath it later today.

I'll also check the oil level to make sure that it is where it should be.

Dogbreath · 8 Apr 2016 at 14:18

russell664 said:
Apologies, I wrote the initial post of my phone.
I have noticed a small wet looking patch in the place I park the bike - if it was oil would it have a smell associated to it? - I will check when I get home.

Depends on the state of the oil, manky old engine oil can smell pretty horrible, but newish oil doesn't really have a strong smell. However you should be able to tell if it's oil just by rubbing it between your fingers, and if the damp patch doesn't dry up during the day then it's almost certainly oil.

A leak could be from the sump plug, a leaking gasket or even the oil seal on the gear lever shaft or behind the front sprocket.

russell664 · 8 Apr 2016 at 22:35

Okay so I got home, looked under the bike and the wet patch is no longer there as seen here:

I have also checked the oil and the level has not dropped at all:

I did phone the bike shop earlier on, but based on this I don't really think I need to pay them a visit, as after checking I took it out for an hour or so, while pulling over to have a quick check and I couldn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

I think it was the water thing which was previously mentioned, thoughts?

unKle · 8 Apr 2016 at 23:02

It was vapor not smoke, for every gallon of petrol burnt approximately a gallon of vaporized water passes out the exhaust. In wet/rain conditions vapor is more noticeable. You've got nothing to worry about

Dogbreath · 8 Apr 2016 at 23:05

unKle said:
It was vapor not smoke, for every gallon of petrol burnt approximately a gallon of vaporized water passes out the exhaust. In wet/rain conditions vapor is more noticeable. You've got nothing to worry about

That should be coming out of the end of the exhaust though, not from under the engine.

unKle · 8 Apr 2016 at 23:09

Dogbreath said:
That should be coming out of the end of the exhaust though, not from under the engine.

True. But as best as it gets diagnosing a fault via a description on the internet I'd say that his exhaust isn't 100% sealed tight with the odd gap here and there.

I had a DRZ400 with a full Yoshimura exhaust and on wet days on tickover I could see vapor/steam chuffing out the pipe where it went into the silencer, nothing could be done to seal it. Just poorly made joints.