White smoke from breather hose

[kodez23]

I spoke too soon last week when I said my recently acquired KLT 185 (4 stroke) didn't blow smoke. I've noticed white smoke coming from the breather hose. I've read that this can mean worn rings but wanted know if there are any other possible causes? The bike starts reasonably easily and runs fine with plenty of power. I recently put a new muffler on it but I'm pretty sure it was blowing the smoke before I did that. The guy I bought the bike from said he changed the oil recently and he is a mechanic so I doubt he over filled it. He said the plug may need changing. Could it be something as simple as the plug? (yes, I'll put a new plug in and check) What is blow by?
If it is the rings what exactly needs to be done to fix it? Options?
Cheers,

[cattle-dog]

did he use synthetic oil?, i have had issues useing full synthetic in some cars and bikes it seemed to be slick enough to get past the rings and cause smoke, i then changed to regular oil and it was gone, in all the cases it came out the breathers. i personally am not a fan of synthetic oils, one was a 20,000 dollar race engine talk about scarey seeing it puffing out the breathers after just being broke in,
blow by is when part of the compression is getting by the rings and causeing crankcase pressure thus the smoke out the breather, if that is the case then you need at least a ring job, take a compression test on it and see what the old girl has.

[SWIGIN]

My 85 200x did this once back in the 80s. It turned out that the head gasket blow out right at the timing chain area and the gasses went out the breather hose.

[kodez23]

Cool, thanks guys. I'll check with the previous owner as to what oil he used and try and get a compression test done. This bike runs pretty hot too but I've read that's pretty standard, Could it be a factor in the case of the smoke?
Cheers.

[Modding_out]

Can't really help you one the smoke part besides telling you that your have a 80% chance of it being worn rings.

But another note, concerning your trike....(if you didn't already know) the KLT 185's are not that common, they were only made for one year in 1986, so treat her very nice and don't break it, you may not find parts(don't worry though, there built better than a tank). Just a word from the some what wise lol. Fantastic bike though isn't it? amazing how much weight you can tow in first gear, then pop into 5th to go chase dirt bikes Prolly the fanciest sport utility trike in the 185 class out there, if i may say so my self.

[kodez23]

Yeah I've worked out that they're not very common, especially down here in Australia. The guy I bought it from got it from a guy whose Dad was importing and selling them. It is a great bike, I love it. Goes well fast enough for my needs.
So I'll hopefully do a compression test over the weekend if I can borrow a tester then put a new plug in. It probably will be rings so I'll check with the last owner to see if she's been bored out before then start tracking down necessary parts. What is my check list? Rings, piston, rebore, head gasket? How can I tell if all the valves are ok? I'll still check with the last owner if he used synthetic oil but I'll be surprised if the cause is something so simple (murphy's law). If it is just the rings how long can I ride it for before I start damaging other bits in there?
Thanks again.