running a bit rich?

[caretaker]

my new fazer gen 1 stinks of petrol constantly and a bit of white smoke from the pipe. the previous owner reckoned he only got 40mpg. what needs doing? is it a carb balance or a retune? other than that, its a very clean low mileage bike. ta.

[His Dudeness]

you might just need to clean the air air filter or if its in a bad way get a new one. have you serviced the bike? white smoke is steam which is probably just condensation

[caretaker]

thanks, i'll do that first. i've just bought it so not been serviced yet. i rode it home yesterday and it runs well (95 in the lashing rain!). its had very little use in the last few years other than the odd ride around some italian lakes. the previous owner trailered it behind his motorhome a lot.

[JZS 600]

Blocked air filter = black smoke coming out the back!
 
Condensation = white smoke
 
Oil = blue smoke!
 
Red smoke coming out the back: bikes on fire!

[Buzz]

Red, white and blue smoke then you're in the Red Arrows.....and I hope you're not still on the bike! 

[fishwibbler]

Dude, if you have a carb Fazer, throw the air filter as far away from you as possible anyway. It might not be the cause of any of your problems, but the carb Fazers had a tendency to run "rich" anyway. You can liberate some more midrange grunt with a K&N air filter and help the bike run a little more lean with this and save a few pennies to boot. Piece of cake to swap out and well worth it.
fish.