dennisg844 wrote:
This morning, it started and while I was holding the "choke" open, it put out a fair amount of white smoke which dissipated when the motor was warm and would idle on its own.
Black smoke = mixture too rich
Blue smoke = burning oil
White smoke = too much air or ....steam
How's your coolant level? Any oil leak around the head gasket?
If you remove the coolant filing cap, do you see any tiny air bubbles when you try starting the bike?
Here are 2 ideas:
a) You have an very small coolant leak into your chambers. (Maybe taking an overnight to be significant)
When you try to start the bike you get a mixture of gas/coolant producing the white smoke. When the engine is warm (or after many tries), the coolant is gone. The leak may not exist when the engine is running (Aluminum expands when the engine warms up + pressure into the chambers).
b) You have water sitting at the bottom of the tank (common on these bikes as when it rain the water sits in the recessed area of the gas cap and goes into the tank when you open it)
At first start, your gas pump sucks some of the water, but after a fraction of second, because of the return line swishing the gas, the water is well mixed with the gas and you don't feel the effects.
What I would try:
Engine cold, remove the spark plugs and the connection to the fuel pump. Spin the starter for few second to empty your chambers.
Put everything back and try to start.
Just ideas...
CF