Blue smoke on warm up!

[Rick Voss]

I have a 2007 ZX14 which I purchased used with 683 miles on it. It came with a complete Brock's full Street Smart exhaust, and Power Commander with Brock's map. I added an Ivan's TRE to stop the 4000 RPM popping on decel. It runs strong. My issue is when blipping the throttle when warming up it is blowing blue smoke. I would exspect some smoke from the rich condition during the warm up period, but it seems to be blue, indicating it oil, not black indicating its is fuel. I can also smell that is oil. I was wondering if anyone has had this condition, and is it typical of a ZX14. Once warm it goes away completely. I also have a Busa, RC51, GXSR 1000, and none of my other bikes have this condition!
Thanks for any feedback you can give me!
Rick V

[cjd223]

Have you ridden it enough to see if your oil level is going down? I also wonder if your rings are seated. Typically Kawasaki bikes are not oil burners. It would not hurt to pull a compression check.

[185EZ]

I have an 07 and had almost the same problem. I never blipped the throttle on warmup so I can't comment on actually seeing blue smoke. I could smell oil burning on warmup and would use a little oil on rides less than 200 miles. I switched to Mobil 1 r4t at an early time, 400 miles. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. I now have almost 6,000 miles and I don't smell or use anymore oil. Not sure if it was the rings not seating or what. I was very EZ on my bike since new and decided to give her hell and ride it hard. I'm not sure if that's what cured my oil problem but it sure cured all my personal problems.

[jollyroger]

"used with 683 miles on it"............that's nothing-But...........why was she being sold so soon with all that gear on er?She shouldn't be blowing smoke my man.How bad is it actually?Mine has never blown smoke-ever-but I broke mine in by the book.After that,it was on!She doesn't burn any oil either.Three regular oil changes(with filter),then went to full synthetic,10/40 Kawachem(motul).

[Hammerhead]

It's possible oil is being washed off the cylinder walls by a low-rpm rich mixture from the new map. Most pre-plotted maps are just starting points as every motor and area is different. If a compression and/or leakdown test doesn't reveal any mechanical issues, you will probably have to have it dyno-tuned to make it run clean at all rpm.

[jollyroger]

How ya doin Hammerhead?!!Hope everything's going great for ya...maybe gettin some rides in...saw yer pics on Killboy there-way to go!!!!

[Rick Voss]

Thank you all for your replies. Hammerhead, I had the same thoughts as you, wash down from the rich mixture, causes the fuel diluted oil to get past the rings. It's also possible the rings are not fully seated yet? I don't think the bike was sold because it has problems. It was a family guy, with kids who was talked into the bike by a friend, and made an impluse purchase. He friend has the same bike and put on the full exhaust, power commander, and removed the flys. The bike is absolutely flawless, the rear tire perfect, no signs of excessive burn outs, and there are no signs of abuse at all! The bike now has 1100 miles and I did put in Mobil 1 at just over 1,000 miles. That is the normal mileage I have gone on all my bikes (now over 30), to give the rings a chance to seat in, and I have never had a problem before. I will also did slightly over fill the oil, and have since lowered it to exactly in the center of the sight glass. I am going to have the bike dyned and tuned at Harry's in Northboro MA. Rick Stetson is the turner and he is awsome. He has national pro stock drag racing titles, and top speed titles with Dave Owen. I will keep you posted on how I make out!
Thanks again for all your input.
Rick V
PS - I have had my Busa new since 2000. I think the 14 is a better street bike. It is so smooth, comfortable, better brakes, and with the mods faster!

[Hammerhead]

Originally Posted by jollyroger

How ya doin Hammerhead?!!Hope everything's going great for ya...maybe gettin some rides in...saw yer pics on Killboy there-way to go!!!!

Hey, Rog! Is it cold in Kalispell yet? I'm supposed to be leaving in the morning for a long weekend ride in Arkansas, but my buddy Mike (The dude with the silver 14, CZ wheels and Muzzy shortpipe) has been ill for 2 days, so we might put off departure until Friday. FYI next year's Anarchy Rally will be headquartered in Chama, N.M. and will take place in the middle of September. I also might take in the Grand Canyon in April. Let me know if you are interested in either of these events and I'll send you details.

[Hammerhead]

Originally Posted by Rick Voss

Thank you all for your replies. Hammerhead, I had the same thoughts as you, wash down from the rich mixture, causes the fuel diluted oil to get past the rings. It's also possible the rings are not fully seated yet? I don't think the bike was sold because it has problems. It was a family guy, with kids who was talked into the bike by a friend, and made an impluse purchase. He friend has the same bike and put on the full exhaust, power commander, and removed the flys. The bike is absolutely flawless, the rear tire perfect, no signs of excessive burn outs, and there are no signs of abuse at all! The bike now has 1100 miles and I did put in Mobil 1 at just over 1,000 miles. That is the normal mileage I have gone on all my bikes (now over 30), to give the rings a chance to seat in, and I have never had a problem before. I will also did slightly over fill the oil, and have since lowered it to exactly in the center of the sight glass. I am going to have the bike dyned and tuned at Harry's in Northboro MA. Rick Stetson is the turner and he is awsome. He has national pro stock drag racing titles, and top speed titles with Dave Owen. I will keep you posted on how I make out!
Thanks again for all your input.
Rick V
PS - I have had my Busa new since 2000. I think the 14 is a better street bike. It is so smooth, comfortable, better brakes, and with the mods faster!

Don't know how true it is, but I've read rings are seated when the factory dyno-checks each bike's engine before it leaves the factory, so I don't think that would be an issue. The overfill might have caused a little to get pumped by the oil rings, but I doubt if that would cause any damage. The dyno-tune should straighten out any mixture issues.

[jollyroger]

Ya-that sounds right for sure.They do run em on their dyno-each one.They're not gonna let a damaged bike out on the public.Sounds like ya got a great deal there!Run it-probably will clear up soon(as long as ya don't add any more oil!!!!).Hammer-ya-Ride safe(yes-it's 45 degrees here now)-BUT...............I'm gonna get another ride in here tomorrow if it doesn't rain or snow-take my Gopro cam with me and shoot some ride video-probably THE last ride for the year.Got new Pirelli Angel ST's on er-smooth as glass-any excuse is better than none!Be safe there-have fun!!(I miss my "first" rocketship-my ole zzr1200).

[Rock]

Originally Posted by Hammerhead

Hey, Rog! Is it cold in Kalispell yet? I'm supposed to be leaving in the morning for a long weekend ride in Arkansas, but my buddy Mike (The dude with the silver 14, CZ wheels and Muzzy shortpipe) has been ill for 2 days, so we might put off departure until Friday. FYI next year's Anarchy Rally will be headquartered in Chama, N.M. and will take place in the middle of September. I also might take in the Grand Canyon in April. Let me know if you are interested in either of these events and I'll send you details.

I just returned from six days in the Eureka Springs/Branson, MO area. There are some great riding roads in the Ozarks. Have you been on the Pig Tail? Have fun. Rock

[Hammerhead]

I have been to ES the last two springs. This year, it rained the whole weekend and other than down and back, we rode maybe 2 hrs per day for 2 days. Rode over to Beaver Dam and stopped at Cycle Gadgets and dropped a few bucks. Last year, the weather was much more co-operative and I did 2 300+ mile days including the Pig Trail. The Ozark Grand Canyon was a neat sight and we had lunch at the overlook cafe.

[Speedy14]

Originally Posted by Rick Voss

I have a 2007 ZX14 which I purchased used with 683 miles on it. It came with a complete Brock's full Street Smart exhaust, and Power Commander with Brock's map. I added an Ivan's TRE to stop the 4000 RPM popping on decel. It runs strong. My issue is when blipping the throttle when warming up it is blowing blue smoke. I would exspect some smoke from the rich condition during the warm up period, but it seems to be blue, indicating it oil, not black indicating its is fuel. I can also smell that is oil. I was wondering if anyone has had this condition, and is it typical of a ZX14. Once warm it goes away completely. I also have a Busa, RC51, GXSR 1000, and none of my other bikes have this condition!
Thanks for any feedback you can give me!
Rick V

Rick


This may sound simplistic but are you sure you did notoverfill the oil?
If you went by the Kawasaki manual and you put a full four quarts you overfilled it! I know from making that mistake myslf when I first bought my bike... [I changed the oil myself after the first 120 miles]... I refilled it according to the manual and had a little too much oil and mine would blow slight blue smoke out of the exhaust when it was warming up when I revved it up...The problem should stop after you ge some more miles on it.. I babied mine for the first 500 miles then rode it harder until it had 1000 miles and then I rode it like I stole it. NO problems since. By the way.. How does a TRE stop it from popping? I beleive the popping is due to the air injection back in th airbox..(anti pollution stuff) When you change the exhaust it will pop unless you use block off plates or plug the hose coming from the air injection to the airbox...
The TRE is actually used for doing away with the factory timing retard in the first four gears.. T.R.E. stand for Timing Retard Eliminator I changed my exhaust and it pops but I like it... <Speedy><

[jollyroger]

I always use 4 qts of syn,plus filter change,every time.Never had smoke.Fills er to just above the half way mark,maybe a tad more.As for the popping-I'm gonna say it's not the timing retard,but the fuel mapping in the "off throttle,on throttle" movements.If you've not got a shot of fuel stabilizing the transitions,it's gonna get a jolt of fuel at the transition,causing a pop.My map guy explained this to me-course,I'm probably not saying it just right.The fuel amounts are constantly changing as the engine changes rpms,and moves from one fuel cell to the next.When she shifts from any cell,if the amounts aren't set right,there's gonna be unspent fuel just waiting to ignite because of the heat of the pipe there.Something like that.It made sense to me when he explained it.He did my map,I've got minimal popping-and only at certain throttle transitions.Basically,I have to try and make her pop.I don't have a tre-and I've got my timing adjusted to 4 degrees advance.There is virtually NO POP unless I close my throttle completely at high rpms to slow WAY DOWN.And even then it's like maybe one pop,and that's it.And not even in every gear either.TiForce slipons,no secondaries.16/42 gearing.

[Rick Voss]

Originally Posted by Speedy14

Rick


This may sound simplistic but are you sure you did notoverfill the oil?
If you went by the Kawasaki manual and you put a full four quarts you overfilled it! I know from making that mistake myslf when I first bought my bike... [I changed the oil myself after the first 120 miles]... I refilled it according to the manual and had a little too much oil and mine would blow slight blue smoke out of the exhaust when it was warming up when I revved it up...The problem should stop after you ge some more miles on it.. I babied mine for the first 500 miles then rode it harder until it had 1000 miles and then I rode it like I stole it. NO problems since. By the way.. How does a TRE stop it from popping? I beleive the popping is due to the air injection back in th airbox..(anti pollution stuff) When you change the exhaust it will pop unless you use block off plates or plug the hose coming from the air injection to the airbox...
The TRE is actually used for doing away with the factory timing retard in the first four gears.. T.R.E. stand for Timing Retard Eliminator I changed my exhaust and it pops but I like it... <Speedy><

--

The popping is caused by a lean condition on decel. The TRE turns the decel fuel mapping back on. I have already done the Brocks block off for the air injection. The popping was so bad it was imbarassing coming to a stop light, it was loud, and very noticble with the full Brocks system. The TRE has completely emliminated the problem. The only negitive is the gear indicator no longer works. To me it is worth the loss, the popping was driving me nuts!

Thanks for your responses.
Rick V

[rrzxter]

Originally Posted by Rick Voss

--

The popping is caused by a lean condition on decel. The TRE turns the decel fuel mapping back on. I have already done the Brocks block off for the air injection. The popping was so bad it was imbarassing coming to a stop light, it was loud, and very noticble with the full Brocks system. The TRE has completely emliminated the problem. The only negitive is the gear indicator no longer works. To me it is worth the loss, the popping was driving me nuts!

Thanks for your responses.
Rick V

I don't post here cuz I have a 600 but I stumbled in here and was confused by this post. I'm not correcting, but curious cuz I've had a different take on all this so far and I'm still learning. I thought that a lean mix would cause pre-detonation (knocking, pinging, deiseling...) and "popping" (backfire) was caused by a rich mix on decel. If your cat is gone, there's nothing to burn up the extra fuel on decel. Air is let in through the reed valves at the head which helps oxygenate the unburned fuel particals. But without the cat, they just ignite in your hot exhaust system causing "backfire". That's what the block-off plates do, cut off extra air through the reed valves so the unburned fuel from decel has a harder time igniting. I'm thinking the bike is running rich and the block-off kit toned it down. I'm just curious why you thought a lean mix was causing popping. I would imagine the TRE helps burn the fuel a little more efficiently but I didn't know it affected decel. BTW, I don't know if Healtech makes a TRE for your bike but it's only $130, keeps the gear indicator functional and returns to stock mapping in neutral as to not affect idle.
One thing I do know is, I wouldn't rev or blip the throttle before or during warm-up. Especially if it's running rich and washing the oil off the walls. I would definitely wait till it's at operating temp and everything has expanded and been lubed up before racing the rings up and down the walls.

[ezmport]

this is a lil off topic, but i have the loud azzz d&d slips and i must say i love the snap crackle pop rice crispies..... i wouldn't have it any other way. i heard she gonna pop more when i pull the flies.. looking foward to it.