Hi,
I was supposed to collect my new bike, a 1993 suzuki Savage 2 days ago from a motorbike shop here in Dublin. I warmed the bike up and then took it around the block for a 10 minute test driveand then I noticed the following problem. I parked sat on the bike outside the shop and it was turning over okay but then I noticed a small amount of white smoke coming out of the top of the cyclinder casing on the left hand side. The whole engine felt very hot. I told the shop mechanic who was a bit surprised about this problem and he said they would take it back in and try to fix this. I know that this bike has been sitting up in the showroom for the last 12 months. Unfortuneately I had to leave the bike there and get the bus home!!

The mechanic said he would order and install a new head gasket this week? What else could have caused this smoke problem?

Is it a well known issue?

Could there be crud inside the cyclinder and dirt on the piston from having been laid up for so long. Maybe this was just been burnt off?

Should the engine oil level be in the middle between the hi and low marks in the window. Mechanic said to fill it to top mark was wrong as it could make it harder for engine parts to move in the oil. Is this correct?

Hope you guys can help as I dont want to have to give up on this lovely bike and take my money back. They are quiet rare bikes in Ireland as its a german import. It's under a standard 3 month guarantee from this shop.

Thanks, Tomohawk.

Most probable- just some oil residue. If not- probably the famous rubber plug or the sealant between the head and the head cover. So far I have never heard about head gasket problem with Savages.
It is normal for this engine to feel HOT.
Ask the mechanic to let the bike idle for extended time nad see what will happen.

White smoke is usually steam or water vapor, blue is oil and black is excessive fuel in either gas or diesel. So white would be water and the savage is air cooled so I'd suspect water left over from the predelivery cleaning process. Savages do not have any history of bad head gaskets, only the plug/cap above the head retaining nut behind the exhaust header. See the tech forum pages onhow to identify this leak. If the leak has been fixed it takes a couple days running to dry out the oil in the pocket behind the plug/cap. Max

Yeah, I'm with Max on that.  It sounds like something pooled in the recesses near the sparkplug and was just burning off after getting the engine hot enough.  The engine will get quite hot and will do it quickly.