85 Yamaha XJ700 Maxim motorcycle blows smoke?

Question

A couple of weeks ago I purchased this motorcycle. It had been sitting in the guys garage for about four years since the last time it ran. I took the carbs off and had them gone through and cleaned. The bike seems to run pretty good. My brother generally follows me to work on his bike and he tells me that it's blowing a little smoke, and it smells like gas. He said it smells like gas bad enough that he can almost taste it.

Any suggestions? Is this just from sitting for so long, or is there something else it needs? It's only got about 21k miles on it.

Answer 1

When carbs sit for a long time the needle and seat valve can get hard and not work.

Gas passes it and goes into the engine. This raises the oil level, which increases the crank pressure, which cause the oil to bypass the rings and burn, making blue smoke.

Drain the oil, and see if it smells like gas.

If so rebuild the carbs.

Answer 2

Did you empty the gas tank and fuel lines as well. If it's blue smoke then it could be ring problem, black smoke is carb, and if it's just foul odor it could be bad gas. Use high octane gas and fuel additive to improve.

Answer 3

i would suggest getting it checked. same thing was happenin to my brothers g/f's dad while he was riding and the motorcycle caught on fire. there might have been other things wrong with the bike but i know there was some smoke smellin like gas coming out of the pipes. ride safe