Hello all, I am new to the forum and just bought my first bike. It is a used 2002 CBR-600 F4i with about 18000 miles. It was sitting in storage (a shack) for 6 months. I replaced the battery and fueled it and got it to turn on. However, white fumes come out of the exhaust and it is leaking some fluid as well. The bike also makes a rattling sound from around the right side of the front fairings (but I don't think it is the plastics). I have researched already but have not found a concise answer to these problems, rather several solutions to try. If anyone knows specifically what is causing these problems and what I could do to fix it on my own, or how much it would cost to take it to a shop, I would appreciate that information. The previous owner only put 1000 miles on it and any maintenance he had done on it was before he put those miles on it. This is my first bike and I am excited to start riding. The bike runs but I am not confident it is in good running condition. Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Have you let the bike warm up to running temperature or about 180 degrees? The white fumes might just be condensation if they don't smell like anything. My bike was burning oil when I first bought it cause the previous owner had way too much oil in it.

And how loud is the rattling sound? I'm not sure when the Cam Chain Tensioner begins to fail but it could be that. I can hear mine and it's only got 14,000 miles on it. Otherwise if you hear a slight tick it's probably you're valves and from what I've heard that's not a bad thing to hear as long as it's not excessive.

 

The rattling sound might be your cam chain tensioner get an ape manual one and you will b good or it might just be something loose.

As for the leak change all fluids there are tutorials on here on how to change oil and coolant just to make sure you know. What color is the fluid? witch side? pull off the fairings spray the whole bike with air from the compressor take it for a ride around the block and then sit and wait watch where it leaks from might just be drain plug washer or a simple hose. remember small leaks turn into big leaks

The exhaust might be from just sitting mine sat for 2 years and started up exhaust smoke was ugly for the first couple days but just let the bike sit and run

Congrats on thef4i many this is gonna be you with yur new toy

 

you could be burning coolant which would cause the white smoke and could also explain the leak possibly depending on where its coming from soo you might be able to solve both problems with one fix. check your coolant level see if its low. Otherwise the white smoke could just be condensation or from sitting around and you might only have a leak to worry about. But be sure that youre not burning coolant or anything before you keep running it/riding it or you could cause a whole new set of problems for yourself.

 

The fluid looks like gasoline: brownish clear color. To be honest I don't know much about vehicles in general. Just how to ride/drive them, but I am a quick learner and love working with taking apart electronics and fixing them so I see a bike or a car just like a bigger model that I can learn to take apart and fix. I think the previous owner said it had an aftermarket exhaust. The leak is at the bottom of the exhaust pipe at the single part right where it connects to another piece that looks like 4 connected pipes that go up the front (i think to the motor). I forgot to mention, the bike dies randomly at times if I completely let go of the throttle. When that happens I can turn it back on a couple of times only if I give it throttle while I turn it on. But after a few times of dying it stops turning on until I try again the next day. Ive only ridden it twice (yesterday and today) just around my neighborhood and each day this happened. Like I said, I like learning to take apart and fix things so I am up for the challenge to fix it myself if it is nothing major. However, I have no experience working on any vehicle before so I wouldn't want to make it worse either. What do you guys suggest, should I just take it to a shop? Besides changing the fluids and fixing the cam chain tensioner would they tune up the rest of the bike in any way that I could do myself? Also, what I have read a lot is that if the coolant is the problem that the head gasket might be blown. In my case would I need to replace the head gasket or just put in some new coolant? Thank you all for the replies.