XT 600 E smoking issue (or not)

[goatygoat]

Greeting all,

My xt started smoking lately which means the last couple weeks or so as the temperature dropped. Trying to identify the cause I captioned a video of cold start. The one with more smoke is on a cold 5 degree Celsius morning. Half an hour ago I fired the engine up again, this time the temp. is 13 Celsius. I observed much less and thinner smoke today. Is anyone able to judge if the smoke is condensation or the valves are shot and the engine is burning some oil? After the initial cold start smoking and after a few meters of riding it, the smoking stops and doesn't restart unless I leave the bike to really cool down, for example if I ride it again in the night.
Any ideas?

https://youtu.be/x4BhPRT0nqY

Thank you,
E.

[goatygoat]

Well I haven't ever achieved consistent oil readings with this damned dry sump system..

[xtrock]

Smell it, you notice if its oil burning, hold hand behind to see if its moisture, use a LED flashlight in smoke and see colour. Maybe valve seals are broken. Have someone ride behind and give full throttle and just drop handle and see if it blow smoke on engine brake.

[turboguzzi]

Originally Posted by xtrock

Smell it, you notice if its oil burning, hold hand behind to see if its moisture, use a LED flashlight in smoke and see colour. Maybe valve seals are broken. Have someone ride behind and give full throttle and just drop handle and see if it blow smoke on engine brake.

+1
actually have somebody ride yours in front , follow and smell your own bike.

do it with a hot motor when the oil gets thin

[goatygoat]

Alrighty!

I'll get my brother to help out with the test asap. I also arranged an appointment with a mechanic to get his opinion aswell. If it turns out to be valve seal, I will go for a top end rebuild since the engine already has 146k kilometres on her back.

Thanks all for the suggestions, I'll get back with the outcome asap.

[goatygoat]

Well here it is,

Firstly I checked for moisture or engine brake fumming and got the best results from both tests. I got moisture and didn't get burnt oil smells or fumming on enginebraking. Lastly, I visited a mechanic and did a compression test which came out within specs.
So I guess no oil burning, at least for now.

[xtrock]

Originally Posted by goatygoat

Well here it is,

Firstly I checked for moisture or engine brake fumming and got the best results from both tests. I got moisture and didn't get burnt oil smells or fumming on enginebraking. Lastly, I visited a mechanic and did a compression test which came out within specs.
So I guess no oil burning, at least for now.

Compression test doesnt tell much about valve seal leak, i will recomend buying a 5mm endoscope camera, you will easy get in and check if there is oil leak.

[goatygoat]

I understand what you're saying. The mechanic mentioned it aswell. In any case I'll be rebuilding the engine soon enough. I have my mind set on Caucasus and maybe Persia in a year or so, so I'll play along for now checking for any serious signs.