The last 2-3 times I've started my bike up I'm getting white oil smelling smoke coming out of the fairing. It burns off in a few seconds. I started researching it here and it seems it's the O ring, but possibly the valve cover. I can see oil beading up on the underside of the header bolts on the left side of the engine if I shine a light up in there.

the question is, is it safe to ride it like this? I did a few hundred miles last weekend and this weekend I'm going out of state for 2 days. I don't want anything to break. The oil level is fine. I just had a service done recently and ironically it started not long after that, and the oil level in the sight glass does seem kind of high, so I was thinking maybe they over filled it and it's coming out somewhere and burning off.

There are no drips or anything on the garage floor.

Thanks!

ok good to know. I'm not going too far this weekend but far enough away that if I have a problem it'll be a hassle especially since my wife is riding the other direction with some of her friends.

I'll need the 30k service pretty soon, I'm around 28k now, so I can probably wait. They'll need to pull the plastic off for the valve adjustment, so they can fix whatever is leaking then. It's still under warranty til October but I plan on picking up the extra warranty before then.

ok good to know. I'm not going too far this weekend but far enough away that if I have a problem it'll be a hassle especially since my wife is riding the other direction with some of her friends.

I'll need the 30k service pretty soon, I'm around 28k now, so I can probably wait. They'll need to pull the plastic off for the valve adjustment, so they can fix whatever is leaking then. It's still under warranty til October but I plan on picking up the extra warranty before then.

Just watch it VERY closely.  Oil leaks can get bad really quickly and you can run out of oil in just a few miles.  If it starts getting sucked into the exhaust (which is possible) you might not even see any evidence until the oil light comes on.

I find if i park the bike on the center stand it dosnt do it as much. Dont know why just a observation.

Ride more, smoke less.  What's not to like?

So today I went for a ride to run some errands. The bike has been sitting since I got home Sunday since it's been raining all week. Started it up, waited for the smoke- nothing! It's been on the side stand too. I guess the threat of a new cam sensor o ring scared it!

I hope that works for me too. I don't get the smoke but I'm definitely getting the leakage. I sent my $1 and self addressed stamped envelope to Man of Blues yesterday. That cam sensor better straighten up and fly right!

I used my Canyon Cages twice. Once in the garage, there was a piece of magazine or flyer on the floor, I stepped on it moving the bike and it slid out from under me, down went the bike. No damage.

2nd time, we were in VA coming home from a 2 week trip down south. My wife rode her Vulcan 1500 off the side of a curve into a bed of kudzu. I turned around to find her when she didn't show up at the end of the twisties (we typically get separated and I'll pull over and wait for her to catch up). I back tracked, saw her on the side of the road, went to make a U-turn with a fully loaded top case and side cases, failed to take into consideration that I was making a U-turn on a hill, and the bike went down hard. The cages did their job, 2 scraps on the front and back cage and nothing on the bike touched.

The Vulcan didn't fare so well, it was totaled, but my wife was relatively ok. Spent the day and night in the hospital getting checked out but nothing more than bumps and bruises. 

"didn't show up at the end of the twisties"

Absolutely the worst feeling in the world.

Update- not the tiniest puff of oil since my last post. Weird... but I have the new grommets for the cam sensor if it happens again.

Update- not the tiniest puff of oil since my last post. Weird... but I have the new grommets for the cam sensor if it happens again.

Sometimes and even quite often, just the mere fact that you have them on hand, will cause issues to just disappear....or protect you.