Help! 1980 R65 Belching Smoke

[ski2udie]

Fired up my 1980 R65 after a short winter's inactivity, battery check, fluids check, lights and controls, check, etc. Started up fine, normal choke, nothing amiss. Took off for a spin around the neighborhood.

Got about a mile and engine started surging and died.

Checked fuel valve, on. Reset choke. Restarted and blew a huge cloud of blue-white smoke, reved up fine. Then sputtered out. Repeated this a couple of times until noticed oil on the ground under the bike. Not good. Pushed it the mile or so home (hard to look cool pushing your old bike).

What's likely the problem? Gaskets/seals?

[Morbo the Destroyer]

Might be a lot of oil seeped past the valve seals when it sat. Or, one or more rings froze for the same reason.

[Easy Rider 2]

Originally Posted by ski2udie

What's likely the problem? Gaskets/seals?

The answer to that depends a whole LOT on where that oil on the ground is coming from.

I think valve seals is probably out as that would have shown up pretty much immediately upon starting.

Could be a stuck ring.
Could be a cracked piston.
Could be a stuck float putting gas into the crankcase and causing it to be overfilled.
Could be a blown gasket.
Could be a stuck valve in a PCV system.....or similar, pumping oil into the air box.

You need to do some basic investigation first......which includes tracing back the escaping oil, looking at the plugs and maybe doing a compression test.