Carbs

[z1bman]

if its oil you will be able to see it in the cylinder or at the back of the valves. take a look into the cylinders with a torch & rotate the engine so you can inspect the back of the valves. for an engine to run good you have to have good compression valve timing correct valve clearance & a good spark at the correct firing point & then fuel metered at the correct rpm

[Skid Mark]

I'm quite new to this lark but the needles wouldn't cause the original issue of a very high idle, the smoke is an unknown at the moment. I'd get the the carbs / idle problem sorted first, keeping a check on the oil level, get it up to temp and see if the 'smoke' clears.

Agreed, I'm trying to focus on the idle first. I'm not sure what the effect of the worn/incorrect needle position is.
I'll reasemble carbs and fire her up.
Thanks.
p

[Skid Mark]

Whip the tail pipe off so just the headers are there. Fire it up and see if there is any difference.

That sounds like a plan, I didn't run it for long but on the initial start up, with no exhaust on I didn't notice any smoke... Just flames!
Will check it out.

if its oil you will be able to see it in the cylinder or at the back of the valves. take a look into the cylinders with a torch & rotate the engine so you can inspect the back of the valves

I take it you mean look in the cylinder from the spark plug hole and at the back of the valves from the inlet and outlet ports? Wouldn't have thought of that.
Thanks

[Skid Mark]

I mitched of work for a few hours to see if I could get any further with this Sh1t fest.
I couldn't face taking off the silencer so I ran the bike a for a good five minutes with the pods off but silencer still on. The smoke seemed to die back a bit but I can't say for sure. I will remove the silencer now once it cools down. ( I know, I know).
I then changed the circlip from the third from bottom to 2 from top groove, this was 3 grooves difference. Bike was much harder start but when she did fire on throttle I could get her to idle at 3.5-4k with the idle screw. Anything below this and she cut out, also a bit of back firing.
I'll check the back of the valves for oil as advised later. Again any advise welcome.
P

[z1bman]

could be a duff ignition coil not working low down which will explain your high rpm

[Skid Mark]

could be a duff ignition coil not working low down which will explain your high rpm

I took off the silencer and it started relatively easy, I managed to get it to tick over at just a little over a thou.
The culprit of the smoke is no. 3 pot. The others all seem very clean. I think I have some work to do!

Thanks to everyone for giving advise. I will keep you posted.
P

[z1bman]

if you managed to get it to tick over without the silencer perhaps there is something stuck in the silencer ?

[warren3200gt]

I would try leaning no 3 right off whist it's ticking over just to be sure it's oil smoke and not fuel smoke.

[Skid Mark]

if you managed to get it to tick over without the silencer perhaps there is something stuck in the silencer ?

At this stage I'm leaving nothing to chance. I will be making sure.

[Skid Mark]

I would try leaning no 3 right off whist it's ticking over just to be sure it's oil smoke and not fuel smoke.

I looked in the inlet and exhaust ports and down the plug hole.
There is what looks like a light smear of oil on the brim of the inlet valve, and a liberal coating of oil on the exhaust valve from the stem down. I don't know if this is coming from the chamber or down the stem. The top of the piston is dry except for the oversized mark, which happens to be visible. This has oil in the grooves of the figures. The oil level window also shows a lot of condensation after all the running today, but a bit more worrying is the lovely new oil has all turned black. This was clear after previous short runs, but is now well and truly black. Could it be a ring issue letting burnt oil back into the system?

[z1bman]

it could be just the valve stem seals or the guides if its on the inlet valve

[Skid Mark]

it could be just the valve stem seals or the guides if its on the inlet valve

I replaced all with the Viton ones. Still have the ones that came with the gasket set. If its is a valve seal, short of damage how would I know? Am I right that if a seal is leaking so early on it most likely will be damage and should be obvious?
How do I check the stem, wiggle a valve in it?
finally, what are the chances of saving the head gasket with such low 'mileage'?
P

[z1bman]

it could be the small spring around the top of the valve seal has been dislodged when you have pushed them over the valve guide therefore you would have no resistance on the seal around the guide. if the guide is excessively worn internally the valve would not seal properly or if the guide is a loose fit in the head oil can leak around the outside of the valve guide & into the cylinder especially on the inlets but this is rare as the inlet valve is cooled by the fuel & air being drawn through the carburetors its mainly the exhaust guides that wear mostly you need to make sure the valve is held in the head & is being held with the valve seal without the valve springs fitted

[Skid Mark]

it could be the small spring around the top of the valve seal has been dislodged when you have pushed them over the valve guide therefore you would have no resistance on the seal around the guide. if the guide is excessively worn internally the valve would not seal properly or if the guide is a loose fit in the head oil can leak around the outside of the valve guide & into the cylinder especially on the inlets but this is rare as the inlet valve is cooled by the fuel & air being drawn through the carburetors its mainly the exhaust guides that wear mostly you need to make sure the valve is held in the head & is being held with the valve seal without the valve springs fitted

Right, I'll check this out.

it could be just the valve stem seals or the guides if its on the inlet valve

I follow that inlet valve stem is less likely to wear due to cooler running, but why is it more likely to leak?
P

[z1bman]

either the spring has come adrift from the seal or the seal has come adrift from the valve guide