79 R65: Trying to ride - fuel leak from exhaust?

[67siia]

Decided to take her for a quick ride.  I started the engine and ti my surprise, I observed (what seems like fuel) coming out of the ride side (if seating on the bike) exhaust pipe & the exhaust note.  White smoke obviously came out of this pipe... after a few minutes it stopped.  Any suggestion?

[Bob_Roller]

It's water from the fuel being burned, water is a by-product of fuel burning .

It's condensing inside the exhaust and coming out of the muffler, or sometimes other joints in the exhaust .

It stops when the exhaust is hot enough for it to stay in vapor form, until it exits the exhaust system .

[67siia]

Bob_Roller once again thank you!!!  Newbies must be a PITA  

[nhmaf]

If it was fuel, you'd probably have seen & heard something a bit more dramatic when it warmed up.

That said, always be sure to turn off your fuel petcock when parking the bike.  The float needles in the carbs don't always shut the flow of fuel off and if your overflow passage in the carb is plugged (or you don't have one, as in some versions of the carbs), you could fill the cylinder with gasoline and essentially hydrolock it, or fill the crankcase with fuel - not a good thing at all.   Always check the petcock when parking the bike!

[mrclubike]

And use the center stand