My son was following me the other day and said my bike has white smoke coming out the exhaust, the bike does not drink the coolant and the oil is not contaminated, so maybe a head gasket. Any thoughts Krew

A number of possibilities spring to mind, but first, can we have more details of what was observed?

A wisp of smoke or a cloud?
Was it continuous the whole time you were riding?
How long was the ride?
If not continuous, at what stage of the ride and for how long?
Was the bike on the side stand prior to the ride? For how long?

A head gasket issue will have different symptoms depending on where the fault is on the gasket, but contaminated oil and loss of coolant are strong possibilities, so head gasket may not be the issue. 

Bill

Thanks Bill, in another post I wrote about it running warm, replaced the thermostat, it still runs a bit warm, but takes longer before the fan kicks in, I put that down to the corolla thermostat, it has never overheated, owned it for 19yrs. The bike has sat for a week or two, it usually starts easy, not today it took a lot of cranking before it started and when it did the fast idle was very rough, the engine stopped twice then idled rough with a continuous white vapour out the exhaust, hmmmmmm

Give it a compression test and if possible a leak down but I would be thinking head gasket. If you do remove the head you will need to get the correct bit for the head bolts which is not the usual torx but a torx plus which has a slightly different shape, more a spline, that way you wont chew out the heads and have to drill the heads of the bolts. Point seven five had a bit about it some time ago and as usual I cant find it. Sometimes I have trouble finding the ground with a rock.

Here's the bit you need for the head bolts.  It works with a pneumatic impact wrench which is what I would use if I had to go in there again.  You are breaking loose a bolt under a lot of torque and the impact wrench will do it more reliably than a breaker bar.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TEMO-IP-50-3-Long-Black-Impact-Torx-Plus-6-point-Socket-Bit-1-2-Drive-/132204305289?epid=1339458897&hash=item1ec7fd9b89:g:coIAAOSw0hlZJvK2

thanks Krew, looks like I need to get some bits and put greasy finger prints on some more pages of my workshop manual, I will be back with more questions, when the head is removed is there other maintenance bits to be replaced?

sad to hear Gary
yep pull the headgasket

you will need new valve stem seals   for a start  ( no use pulling it all apart and not doing them )

get some valve lapping paste  and the suction cup twirly thingy
and you will probably need to get the head ground ..just for satisfaction that all is tickety boo as the new head gasket is replaced
as you remove the timing case etc ...probably worth getting a new cam chain tensioner ...the snail cam base inside the tensioner is sharks toothed to start with but  I have seen many with rounded edges ...letting the tensioner unwind ... 

the head gasket leak might explain some of the high pressure in the coolant system and thermal issues


good luck

Thanks Charlie, I nearly had the new K11 on the road, but the effort must go into number 1 K as it is registered, Am tempted to dress the 11 in black RS attire with the bits it's needs from number 1, now where is my hammer screwdriver and adjustable spanner...........

Garyk100 wrote:Thanks Charlie, I nearly had the new K11 on the road, but the effort must go into number 1 K as it is registered, Am tempted to dress the 11 in black RS attire with the bits it's needs from number 1, now where is my hammer screwdriver and adjustable spanner...........

You'll never make a mechanic where's the cold chisel?

You've all got it wrong. What you need is the old Triumph Tool No.1 - a BFH.

You guys with ya fancy tools, bloody luxury, when I was young un riding a postie bike, dads toolbox had a double ended screwdriver(high tech in its day) 8" adjustable wrench and a brick,

Garyk100 wrote:You guys with ya fancy tools, bloody luxury, when I was young un riding a postie bike, dads toolbox had a double ended screwdriver(high tech in its day) 8" adjustable wrench and a brick,

Why complain about progress....you are now riding the brick........

And I heard a kid recently say he was listening to music on the wireless..........