Hey guys, my buddy just bought a 07 ZX 14 on my recommendation. It's got about 5500 miles on it. We went for a long spirted ride on the weekend. After a short coffee break and it was time to go, I noticed his bike smoked a bit of blue on restart? We shut off the bike and then rechecked the oil level and its between the two bars. Anyone else ever see this? The bike sat for about a season without being ridin last year, and we changed the oil before we went out last week. Anything to worry about? It does not smoke when cold and the bike idles up when first started. No over heating issues and the antifrezze is green, and the oil is gold. OF course my buddys giving me the shit about talking him into the Zx over another Budusa...LOL.

Too early to tell IMO, I would ride it some more. After seating for that long it's possible some moisture got in. I would just let her stretch her legs a little more and see if the condition persists. Mine always idle high upon cold start and settle down.

* Last updated by: dragking on 6/5/2012 @ 10:01 AM *

We went for a long spirted ride on the weekend.

Did you have too much oil in the crankcase? Either that, or are we are shoving that oil up the intake? The crankcase is a closed loop system. Spirited rides, bike sitting, add it up. At this point, sans a cold compression read, the over revving? Who knows?

If you were riding around, saw no smoke before the spirited ride, meaning, you've seen it start before without the puffing upon start up? Then short of some high rpm, it wants to balance the blowing of the crankcase so it neutralizes. There is so much oil in the crankcase and then the pressures made to push something out. Do you see the event with the oil in the air intake to burn it off?

There can be a lot of things or can be nothing. I'm not closing the door until you come back with that bike puffing on every start, or there was enough cruising to clean the chamber, there are no puffs remaining. That is the monitoring before you go tear things down for nothing.

No need to think you made a bad move. I've overfilled the crankcase, seen a lot of oil gush in on the spirited. Checked where the oil level was as per factory level, yeah, I moved too high in the window. Once I noticed the 'happy level,' no more oil purges into the intake to burn the oil out. Besides, there is not enough oil ratio to burn the engine down. If it was smoking like a train, then yeah, look out!

5 years @ 1100 miles a year. That, or all in one year? Then parked? I'm getting a barn find hardon.

Previous owner lost his nerve or lets say his wife told him to get a cruiser............ Yep. 8250 km or 5100 miles.

Hub, no smoke following him on the ride at various speeeeeddddss . No smoke cold either.

If there's no excess oil in the airbox, it's my guess that one or more of the intake valve seals has hardened from sitting around unused (lot rot, the used-car dealers like to call it). Oil laying around on the top of the cylinder head drains down through the intake guides when starting up after a period of running engine.

Cool...

That says:

A. Rings ~ Puffs all day long. Can smell smoke, obviously; see it too.
B. Valves ~ On lift only. That means, you come up to a stop, take off, she blows out a little. Brisk ride [oil level and all that is fine] you lift on shutdown, then throttle back up she smokes? You might have dry valve guide seals. Though, this has to be severe wear for the new seals to be installed, no measuring and all, meaning. Then, she keeps puffing on lift = Valve Guides are too warn for new seals even!
C. Oil level ~ Based on my experience, based on drag's vaporization, based on the brisk, the oil level [in question], the leveling there of, I would have to conclude the bike was never abused. Add the sitting, the level, the brisk...

... From my seating position, my guess is we are not complaining about equal power between bikes. No power loss, meaning, right? Just a little oil bladder barfing at this brisk event. Unless we see more puffing, which it seems you do not, I can only guess a slight purge as per designed to do.

This is an air pump, so if you cannot seal the air, out the:

1. Exhaust valve ~ But, we are not having a power loss or excessive valve guide sucking = Burning will the PAIR do it to it.
2. Intake valve ~ Whereas the intake suck will burn in the cylinder chamber. This is a constant suck, so if it is burning slightly, it can call the ball on both guide leaks. Therefore, no blowing of smoke on lift are the guides.
3. Rings ~ Back to the air pump. If that thing can suck with the rings sealed, then it can suck oil if a ring is broken. That push of air or the compression stroke is saying, I can hold air, we have no loss of power between bikes. If I could not hold air, I'd push that air into the crankcase. With that speed, I can push more air from that one cylinder as the rpm rises, so the crankcase pressure rises with the rpm, but this is not happening either or we'd lose oil and you windshield would be peppered if you stay close enough.

With that said, both of you take and hold each others bike upright. Note where your level is and the level in question. If his is too high against yours????

* Last updated by: Hub on 6/5/2012 @ 12:31 PM *

I would say his oil level is at the top of the high mark. We syphoned out to put the oil in betweenthe marks this AM. Too much rain an ice rocks flyin today for another test, so we wait. As for power, seems normal still walked away from a hero on a victory hammer from a roll and left him wondering why his bike is soooo sloooow.

DAN,

Well, seems to me I think you caught it.

Hub, if the oil was overfilled before the ride, it may have been higher than the top mark according to my bud, would that cause the blue smoke at restart? Lik e I said we corrected the level to half way between like mine.

Yep, that brisk is watching you see that excess keep purging the ram chamber.

I've seen oil levels being topped off with the side stand as the level position... THE OWNER THINKS. Then when you go to check it, the oil comes out of the crankcase's dipstick hole. So, with that windmill effect in the crankcase, the oil being slung, the limited compressed space as both pistons from the bottom are pushed up, then the others are pushing down on that space that the pistons moving up?

Do you see how some sort of air has to be in place of that [over filled] that oil took its space? Then, if it is not vapor being pulled from that intake, it is a solid mass until the vapor trail begins again. All you are seeing is a residual. I'd see if the air filter is soaked?

Take care to clean that area going back in. Lots of debris could drop into the ram side. Now would be a good time to change the oil [soaked] filter anyway [maybe]. You are so close. There is your high compression readings are clean air cleaners installed. a lot. Chop the owner's manual interval in half. If the a/c says 12K, you cut it to 6k.

* Last updated by: Hub on 6/5/2012 @ 12:54 PM *

Too early to tell IMO, I would ride it some more. After seating for that long it's possible some moisture got in. I would just let her stretch her legs a little more and see if the condition persists

I agree. If your problem persists after everything that has been suggested, take a look at your spark plugs. Reading a spark plug can give you multiple clues about your engine, but you probably already know that.

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

Ok, so we lowered the oil level, started the bike, now its develpoed a hesitation choppyness, and way down in power, is it possible that having too much oil fowled the plugs? Seems like its missing? weird or what. The blue smoke on hot restart seems to be gone.

* Last updated by: DANOZX14 on 6/7/2012 @ 11:22 PM *

Short of changing the plugs, anyway to run it up to redline, sort of cook the carbon buildup off? If that does not clear it, then yes, new plugs.

Well # 2 plug oil fouled baaad, enough to missfire. I think it quit some time on the last 10 min of the ride. Oil smells a little like gas............ changed oil, changed plugs, smoking a bit, maybe it'll clearup? We looked in the air box as far as we could see no oil, also checked the breather from the crank case..seems ok? Any chance he's got another problem like a valve or spun a bearing?

time for a compression test. use the battery which is fully charged.

Cut open the old oil filter. If you saw it, too much metal. If you punch a hole in it, sheer away the outer cover, find where the metal is deep in the pleats. Spread it apart. See anything? Very little? Nada. Nothing to worry about at this time.

That was enough oil to keep pumping into the chamber, oil foul the plug. A lower level and another brisk ride may clear things up.

"Spread it apart. See anything?"Now, how is anyone gonna see anthing with Cody stuck so far up yer ass dickweed?How now brown cow....??????

"another brisk ride may clear things up"...yeah..it may.. it may just score yer cylinder walls and then what?Hub gonna come a fix it for ya?.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 6/12/2012 @ 12:01 AM *

Get on the gas HARD a few times, chances are the rings aren't completely seated. A lot of these big bore motors are driven too easy and the rings never get stressed enough to seat.

Mad

how do you post a video so you guys can here this ticking zx14 time bomb?

Open a utube account. They have a simple drag and drop the movie onto the 'upload' page. Pretty simple. Double click the blue line at the browser page. This shrinks the page, exposes your desktop. Mouse the blue line to drag the browser page away from the movie? Then, drag the movie over to any part of the upload page. Double click the blue line to expand the browser page again.

"...this ticking zx14 time bomb?" We have a knock or a tick? We did search for time bomb parts like rod bearing debris, right? You did cut open that old filter, right?

Any chance he's got another problem like a valve or spun a bearing?

Ok,cut open filter, no metal. Called the Kawi shop in town and talked to the mechnanic. His first question was what oil and filter are on the bike, so I tell him we put amsoil and a K/N filter withe the 17 mm nut. So he says thats the problem, according to buddy the k/n oil filters do not have a strong enough "pressure valve" and can cause the top end of the engine to tick WTF?? So he says dump the oil and filter and put in K4 lube and a kawi filter. So before we go spend another 65.00 bucks on oil, HAS Anyone ever heard of this ??? Going to try to get a video soon.