Hello,
I recently (2 days ago) purchased a 2003 800. The bike only has 68** miles on it. The bike ran great when I test drove it before buying it. Since having it home it will not hold an idle, chokes out when I try to pull off and has no power if I rev high rpms to take off, and also blows white smoke the whole time. I really appreciate any help, as I am completely lost and bummed about recieving a "lemon". Please help and THANKS in advance!
Ya I'd be looking at draining the tank and filling fresh. White smoke usually means your burning water, or oil, but we will not talk about that right now.
If the bike was in storage or hardly ridden all that time and with 68** miles on it I can only assume that was the case, and if there was fuel in the tank without any form of fuel stabilization, the entire fuel system probably needs a complete cleaning. Start with fresh gas and a top quality fuel additive like Sea Foam or Techtron.
I don't know why it ran so good during the test ride and then faltered. The choke is automatic so you may have to get into that area.
Did you check the oil? You should change it if it was stored for a long period.
Or record a video (with you phone or so) upload it here or via photobucket or so.
Plenty petrolheads here.........
My bike blows "white" smoke when I start her on a cold morning, but that goes away after a little while.
White smoke has nothing to do with a battery, but if that is an old one, your bike will run like crap as well.
So change fuel, take battery to shop for a load test and take it from their.
What does your engine oil look like?
I would contact the seller immediately, followed up by a letter/email. Depending on his/her initial reaction take further steps.
And oh!
Welcome to VFRD from across the pond!
PS: did you buy the bike from an old pensioner?
So I have removed the tank and drained all fuel out. The fuel that was removed looked fairly good with very little trash in it. I also changed the oil yesterday and oil filter. I removed all spark plugs and checked the compression on all 4 cylinders and all read about 140-150. I thought if it was a head gasket at least 1 cylinder should not have as much compression. The bike only starts acting rough and smoking after the tempurature goes up to maybe like 160ish. If anybody can help I really need it and appreciate it. Thanks to all who have commented and to all who will reply!!!!
So that could possibly make it run bad and smoke extremely bad and eventually cut off as the temp goes up? What is it and how could I check that. I guess that will be the next troubleshooting option. Thanks again to any and ALL!!!
Did you just pull the plugs or did you also change them? I would have. Change ALL fluids. That should be a prerequisite when you buy a used bike anyway. Check the oil when you change it for any antifreeze/water. It should be pretty apparent. I'd change the fuel filter as well. Try process of elimination. Fuel, fire, air......that's what an engine needs. I don't know how mechanically skilled you are, but if its over your head it may just be worth taking it to a reputable dealer/shop.
Since you are in GA, I suggest maybe just "calling and talking" with Huey up here in the ATL area (Marietta). He's a guru on bikes, race set ups, fuel maps, etc and owns Marietta Motorsports (have a website too). I think Huey used to own a VFR and could at least give you some free advice. Worth a shot.
I kid. Have you run the bike since changing everything and get the same results?
BTW I bought a crashed low mile 06 that smoked like a bug fogger when it warmed up. I had nothing to loose so I just ran it through several heat cycles and it cleared up after around an hour of run time and never smoked again. not sure what was up, but it stopped.
When you checked the compression was the engine Hot or Cold? If you checked it cold then get it hot and do it again. Because if it's a crack or bad gasket leaking antifreeze into the cyl. It will sometimes only start after everything comes up to temp and expands. Cold comp numbers look good, but if theres a crack/gasket issue those numbers will drop on one or two cyl(s) when hot. Hopefully this is not the case and if they don't change then you can eliminate that type of serious issue as the root cause.
The "white smoke" observation bothers me. Is the level in the coolant overflow tank low, or absent?
If the level is normal and you have access to an anti-freeze tester I suggest checking the specific gravity of the coolant to make sure the freeze protection is up to snuff.
Even if it checks out o.k. now it's still possible a prior owner could have drained the coolant and refilled w/water (say to do a track day), but failed to re-fill w/antifreeze afterward before freezing temperatures set in. Hopefully not-for that would be a stupid move, but it still could be a sad possibility.
Still, I don't understand how the bike would have run fine during your test ride (how long was it?) if there was freeze damage or a bad head gasket.
At this point If I were you I'd probably choose to take the bike to a reputable shop or Honda motorcycle dealer to have it evaluated. If the prior owner withheld information about damage you could need confirmation from a reputable source in this regard if it becomes necessary to take the seller to court.
Hopefully it will turn out to be something simple, but if draining and replacing the fuel didn't solve the problem you might want to avoid doing more wrenching on your own unless you have the tools, sufficient knowlege & experience..
Good luck!
Edit: What about a possibility that the prior owner may have put some Sea Foam in the gas tank? I've seen how heavy doses of that product can produce white smoke in the exhaust. However, if emptying and re-filling the tank failed to eliminate the smoke most likely that's not what could be causing the problem.
This probably won't account for the white smoke . . . but - when you had the tank off, did you also remove the airbox lid to check the air filter? A 2003 with 6,800 miles has sat long enough to get plenty of 'critter love' . . .