Hi all, newbie to bergs requires help please...

Hi all,

Ive just got a 2004 model, 2003 reg, FE450 with 2400 indicated miles on, not ridden any miles by me, possibly stood for a while by previous owner.

This is the problem: First ride out, after riding for about 2 miles, bike started coughing out blue/white smoke from exhaust, I kept riding it for approx another half mile until I could stop somewhere safe, whereby bike stopped running. Tried and tried to kick it over but would not start, tried de-com lever, hot start, choke, everything. Battery was fully charged on optimate too.

Then after leaving for 5 days, decide to try kicking it again and it fires up, no smoke at idle (as before), but is now spitting out black spots onto frame down tube in front of engine. Notice that oil is at top of sight glass, rather than bottom (it should be at bottom, right?). There is what looks like white silicon sealant (bath sealant) around the exhaust outlet which is melting and coming off, and possibly a gap in the head gasket area. Again, no joy with e-start, battery full.

Whilst bike is running I can feel it pumping out the exhaust gases on to my hand when I place it in front of the engine (is this the gasket or exhaust seal, would the bike still run if it was coming out of the gasket area!?). I dont want to run it any more until a professional has looked at it, but need to ride it to get it to a mechanic! (no van).

My thought is that there is too much oil in and it is just that burning, and i will need gaskets/exhaust seals for the front which is a seperate matter. Alternately, it could be something major like knacked piston rings etc...

Any help is very much appreciated! If I have forgotten anything please let me know. Please dont say sell it as I'm dying to ride this thing!

Cheers,
Backflash.

It sounds like the engine was over filled with oil. If over filled it will self regulate and blow off the excess out the breather, through the frame and into the carb. It may be that your engine /carb got such a big dose of oil it temporarily fouled the plug.

You can reseal the exhaust headers with high temp silicone sealant.

I believe the issues are not related.

I would change the oil and refill to the proper level (bottom of sight glass), install a fresh plug, clean the air filter, wipe the oil out of the frame backbone and carb to frame boot with paper towels.

Also reseal your exhaust.

If the head gasket is in fact leaking then that will require a bit more effort.

Thanks for quick reply husabutt.

I will do the things you said and hope that cures it, but I still have doubts about the gasket.
Thats too technical for me to tackle in my garage and will need a pro.

Any other advice from members is much appreciated.

fwiw, my '04 450 had a really poor fit between the headpipes and the midpipe. very much sealant required there and not much long term success.
getting the bike dialed in as per specs and getting used to its quirks will take time. biggest hassle getting a used comp bike is usually undoing all the problems caused by the previous owner.
proper servicing : oil, plug, adjust valves, correct jetting, properly timed carb squirt are areas that are important to learn.

Hi all,

So today I changed oil and filter, cleaned drain plug which had a build up of metal on the magnet, cleaned oil screen tube, refilled with nice fully synth oil to bottom of sight glass.
Guess what, it starts nicely now and doesn't smoke anymore, plus it started off the e-start too.
The blowing exhaust was from the connection to the mid-pipe as Ned37 said.
Probs invest in a nippon ixu24 too.

Will still get a professional to give it a check over, then need to fix non working rear brake and put new chain on.

Thanks again all, further comments still welcome.