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Yamaha Vmax 125cc Scooter - Burst of smoke on startup - edlithgow

As above. GF's scooter, inherited from her brother, approx 20 yrs old, I'm told.

Seems to have started doing it recently and, since I did an oil change recently, I'm inevitably in the frame.

Her old one had a dipstick, so I used to stealthily top it up sometimes, occaisionally finding it about half full.

This one has no obvious means of checking the oil level (very "modern") and so is probably even more likely to have been systematically underfilled.

I'm thinking oil seepage via worn valve guides and/or piston rings at rest, perhaps aggravated by it actually having a full complement of oil after I changed it.

I used Mobil 4T (10W40 IIRC) which should be OK quality and isn't expensive, so probably not fake..

Might give it a compression test, IF I can get the go ahead, tho I suppose keeping quiet and clear would be better tactics.

Any other suggestions?

Yamaha Vmax 125cc Scooter - Burst of smoke on startup - paul 1963

Sounds like it's over filled, quick goggle search says around 800ml? There is a online manual but it's a pdf and quite large.....

Yamaha Vmax 125cc Scooter - Burst of smoke on startup - edlithgow

Impressed if you found an online manual which I couldn't, (though its a long time since I looked, and I wasnt very motivated since I'm unlikely to be doing much work on it),

If that 800ml is accurate, overfilling is likely, since I chucked the whole (litre) bottle in.

Bit doubtful though since

(a) Thats what the "black hands" (skilled professional scooter shop technical specialists) do, though likely the bottle is sometimes a US quart, which apparently is about 950 mls.

(b) I removed the plug at the bottom of the sump to clean out the wire mesh oil strainer, which the black hands dont do, so the engine would be more completely drained than it would be on a standard oil change, and so require more oil.

Could you post a link to the manual?

As I said, I'm unlikely to be doing much to it, but I'd like to confirm that you cant check the oil level, a barely credible b***** awful design feature on something that old, which gives me the feeling I must be missing something.