White Smoke on Start up!

Discussion in '8th Generation 2014-Present' started by Bubba Utah, Jan 4, 2018.

  1. Bubba Utah

    Bubba Utah Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,384
    Likes Received:
    324
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Utah
    Map
    I first of all may of been dupted by my dealer. Even after years of riding and only this being the first bike brandspanking new. He told me to ride it hard and up to redline within the first 500 miles to set the valves right. He said to alter it and fluxuate the rpms right of the bat. I questioned him, but this was the owner of the dealership and given that it was a more modern bike and a Honda I took his advice. Said and done. So now with 5,500 miles the bike smokes white for the first couple of minutes warming up, then goes to a vey faint white and mind you this Is winter at 40F. Is this normal or did I fu.. up the valves.
     
  2. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

    Country:
    United Kingdom
    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Messages:
    1,969
    Likes Received:
    548
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    London
    Map
    I'll make the assumption that you let the bike warm up first > before redlining it....
    In which case your dealer is correct, its a better way to seat the rings....

    However - you also need to change the oil more often during this period - I think there is a website that lists this break-in procedure, I'll see if I can find it..
     
    Bubba Utah likes this.
  3. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

    Country:
    United Kingdom
    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Messages:
    1,969
    Likes Received:
    548
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    London
    Map
  4. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2007
    Messages:
    13,741
    Likes Received:
    1,557
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Location:
    Chilliwack, BC Canada
    Map
    With temps at that range, you could be seeing condensation. If you can see it, and it is oil, you would definitely smell it.
     
    Bubba Utah and Thumbs like this.
  5. GatorGreg

    GatorGreg Honda Fanboy/LitiGator

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2016
    Messages:
    1,984
    Likes Received:
    342
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Orlando
    Map
    Nothing to worry about - just a new Pope.

    J/K Bubba :D Hopefully it's just condensation as Randy suggests.
     
    squirrelman, andy kingdon and Lint like this.
  6. Thomas Gessner

    Thomas Gessner New Member

    Country:
    Germany
    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2017
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    34
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Munich, Germany
    Map
    At the risk of opening up one of those „how to break in a new engine“ threads: There has been a ton of discussions about hard break-in (the method described on the mototune site) and soft break-in.

    The consensus seems to be that for a race engine, hard break-in might be ok (it might free a few extra ponies), while for an engine that should have a longer life expectancy, soft break-in is advisable.

    I for one have concluded that Mama Honda knows best and breaking on according to what the manual says is the way to do it.

    I also think what your dealer says is irresponsible merde, excuse my french.

    White smoke shortly after start-up is normal, especially at low outside temperatures. If the engine continues to blow white smoke after it is warm, your head gasket might be blown (probably thanks to hard break-in).

    My 2c, of course.



    Gesendet von iPad mit Tapatalk
     
    Bubba Utah and andy kingdon like this.
  7. andy kingdon

    andy kingdon New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2017
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    19
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Agree with Thomas above.... For my 4stroke dirt bikes (Honda CRF's) they are rode hard at mile one, but since this is my second VFR - I followed the HONDA break in procedure and I did not engage VTEC or even get of 5k of RPM for the first 500 miles or so.
     
    Bubba Utah likes this.
  8. DriverDave

    DriverDave New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2010
    Messages:
    579
    Likes Received:
    57
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Map
    You should be fine. I rode mine like I stole it from day one. Did the first oil change at 600 mi, then every 4k mi after that. Ran perfect, never smoked, never consumed oil or coolant, and had no problems for the 3 years/22k miles I owned it.

    Basically with modern engines, there's only 2 things that are truly bad for them during break-in...Immediate hard riding from a dead cold start with zero warm-up, and lots of constant steady RPMs on the highway. (like flying to a dealer in another state to get a good deal, and riding your brand new bike 500+ miles on the interstate back home)

    If you avoid those 2 things in the first 1k miles, either the soft or hard break-in technique will work fine.
     
    Bubba Utah and Thomas Gessner like this.
Related Topics

Share This Page