I've been having trouble latley with my Traveller using a lot of oil, after much deliberation I decided to get a recon engine. This is now fitted and in the process of being broken in. I'm a bit concerned however about the amount of smoke from the exhaust. When pulling away or idling there's clouds of it. Is this normal whilst everything is 'bedding in' or do I have a problem? I've probably covered 70 miles since install.
A compression test will tell you an awful lot very quickly - if you can, do a test and post up the results here. Doesn't sound right for an A series...
Some people are like slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you throw them downstairs.
Have you run it (off load) for a long period before actually driving it? There is a possibility that if you do not load a new engine sufficiently the bores can glaze. The rings with then never run in. Race bike engines often require'power seating' for the rings which is basically short bursts of full throttle followed by no throttle.
What you must not do is treat a new engine too lightly, just keep the revs reasonable and loads not too high for the first hundred miles or so.
Not normally a problem running an A series in, maybe it has not been built correctly (piston/bore clearances, rings etc).
I havn't really run it off load, just driven at about 45-50mph. I'll see how it goes over the next hundred miles or so (it is a warranted engine so if it aint right it'll hopefully be sorted). One theory is that because the old engine was a heavy user of oil there may be residues in the exhaust but thinking about it the old engine didn't smoke.
Oh well if anything can go wrong it's usually me that it happens to
it should not be chucking out clouds of smoke,i had a recon engine 2 years ago done 8000 miles not used a drop of oil oil pressure is 60 when cold 50 when warm and doing over 20 mph.have you got an oil pressure guage fitted that will tell you about the health of the engine
Absolutely should NOT be pouring out smoke - not ANY smoke at all! Take it straight back to the 'reconditioners ' - they are have a laugh with you. And - if the old engine didn't smoke - why did you change it ?
Another thing is DON't use high quality oil, SLICK 50 or any other type of anti friction addative during running in period.
Cheap & cheerful is what's needed for the first 500 or so miles to allow the components to "bed in" before the decent stuff is added.
