Started the bike for the 1st time since about october! And it was very smoky(dark grey/blue) for a minute or two! Now it did the last year after winter also? It was fine when it cleared. Upon looking at the right hand side of the bike my rear bobbins are alloys and have an oil like film over them? Any one else had similar problems? I've not checked oil usage as I hardly did 200 miles on the bike last year due to have a baby and rubbish weather! Bike has only covered 1700 miles from new and only had 1st service in july 2011 as I wasnt using the bike lastyear I never got round to getting it serviced? How would this effect the warranty? Hoping its not piston ring problems?
i,m in a similar position with regards to lack of use (2011 bike with under 800 miles. poor weather ,2 little ones, wife working eves and some weekends and losing a family member didnt help) but haven,t noticed any smoke issues. i still have honda check it over for warranty purposes so you,d still need to get it serviced to keep warranty happy. i would try and get some miles on it and check for oil usage before your warranty finishes then pop it back to them to take a look.
Technically no service no warranty all depends how your dealer handles the situation if a claim is needed. Lack of service gives Honda the excuse to reject a claim. I would try to use the bike more and see how it goes.
Givs was doing the same on the way to and back from Shrewsbury… if its been laying a while, it's normal.
Are sure it's smoke and not steam? If an engine has been laid up for a while there will be a build up of condensation in the cylinders, inlet tracts and exhaust system which will then burn off as steam when you first start it. Providing you have run it in properly - and I don't mean the way the manual tells you - you really shouldn't have a ring problem. Also, if it only does it after a lay-up it is definitely nothing to worry about. Hope this helps.
Service shouldnt be an issue, you only do 2nd service at 4000 miles anyhow. Yours is no where near that. Ive noticed that this model is quite smokey too, more noticeable in the cold weather too. Give it a good run, see how it goes after some more miles. Dont forget to check your oil though.
your probably right but thats complete cock, why would you service a bike with feck all miles just because of months. not like your wearing out or ruining things, fluids maybe over a much longer time...I reckon thats just to ensure they get your moolah, lol
Even if a bike lays still for mths on end, oils degrades and gathers water due to condensation, and petrol goes off.. The protecting properties of oils wane, so best to change it, even if it's not used for 10 mths. Same goes for most fluids. Tyres degrade, and other consumables like seals etc… Pistons in the calipers can seize over time if unused, and cause binding…etc. etc...
That's an argument I have almost on a daily basis. I can see both sides it's difficult to justify at times.
Yep, I'm with Si. Hydraulic fluid is hydroscopic, it attracts moisture, so the brakes lose feel, the crank case harbours moist air that condenses onto the oil, this last year has done nothing to improve the longevity of our P&J's while we've not been riding them. 30 minutes or 30 miles I was once told, just to burn off the moisture accumulated in the crank case. I got twitchy once when I replaced the mild steel exhaust on my 206 for a hand made Stainless one and the amount of steam I saw coming from it on a cold morning made me thought I blown the head gasket. Turned out it was just the difference in the steels changing the condense rate. It's the little things...
Ill bow out of this argument, not able to take part on time over mileage as mine is 6.5 months old and already on 6000 miles!!
