HI,
Im in Ireland, I ride a 92 1000f and I'v just noticed white smoke and a strong gas smell. Does it sound like the heads gone, or could it just be piston rings. Is it a big job on a bike, done a few cars but never a bike and I can't afford the bloody prices of getting a garage here to do it. She has lost no power, starts and rides fine, I'v noticed no loss of coolant or oil.

Thanks for any thoughts on the subject.

 

If your not loosing any coolant or oil, it doesn't sound likes there is much going on. As it seems like you already know, white smoke is due to coolant entering the combustion chamber. But if you have no coolant loss, it doesn't make much sense. I would pull the spark plugs first and see if they are white. if they are, it could mean further invenstigation into where the water is coming from. Head gasket, cracked block or head. I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet though. Pull all of the plugs and see if any of them are white, if only one is white, then thats the cylinder that has the issue.

But, just out of curiosity, whats the temp been there? Is it possible its just cold and your seeing condensation from the exhaust? It could just be the bike's jetting is different since its cold out, and making the exhaust smell different.

 

This was my first guess. Cold weather is going to cause a lot of condensation that will let off white smoke.

If anything seems out of sorts when it comes to power, oil color, spark plug color, etc. then do a compression test.

As for the size of the job. If you have some know how, time, and a few cheap special tools, you can do most work on a bike yourself.

 

It was raining heavy and cold on the day I noticed the smoke, this morning I changed out the oil, old stuff seemed fine, put in some additive for old engines, and went for a ride, done 120miles, no problem, still a smell of petrol but no more smoke (thank God), going to get the carbs balanced in the next two weeks. Coolant level seems fine too. Maybe I'm just over cautious, I love this bike. Will pull the plugs tomorrow for a looksee, hopefully she's just running rich, thanks for the replies.