85 VF500F water from OEM pipes?

I noticed that my VF500 was what appears to be water dripping from both OEM pipes. There's a little hole right @ the front of the canister on both sides on the bottom, and I get a small pool there that I've cleaned up 3x now. I know it's coming from the bottom/bend of the pipes b/c I feel/see the drips when I rub my finger over the holes. It's not constant, but overnight the pool was there again on both sides.

It's water, right? What else could it be? I have not ridden this thing in about 2-3 months...could it just be condensation somehow, even though it's in a garage in sunny SoCal (82 here right now)?

I recently R&R'ed the carb bank for the 1000th time, and used a little WD-40 to slide the carb boots back on...could that be it? Sure looks like/feels like water though...

 

Does it look to have any coloration in it? also is there a smell to it? Does the water just pool up while the bike is sitting, or does it do it after letting it idle and warm up?
It could possibly be coolant

 

Looks to be clear, no smell or coloration. So far it happens while it's been sitting. I've started it up and run it a bit @ idle, but that's it...maybe 5 minutes tops? It's definitely coming from the small weep hole @ the bottom of the canister, so it's from inside the pipe it would appear...

 

So no water comes out while idling, just while sitting? I am not sure about that, my bike builds up condensation in the pipes while it is first warming up and it drains out of the weep hole, but once the motor is fully warmed up or fully cooled down it does not drip.
Does the bike have antifreeze in it? or is it just water? I have heard of some people in warmer climates not putting antifreeze due to it not freezing... If you could, check the coolant level/ mark it somehow b4 and after this water has drained out and see if there is any change in it.
I guess it could possibly build up condensation in it from the day to night temp. changes but I have never had that happen. Maybe another more expierienced biker on here will know more about it..

 

Well, it's not coolant, and it did eventually go away when it was warmed up and after a short ride. Does yours do it every time you ride it/warm it up? Summer & winter?

 

Mine does it every time I run it so far.. I have not had it during the warm weather yet so I do not know about during warm weather. I bought mine at the end of december so It has always been below 45 or 50 when I have been riding. I would say during warmer weather that it should not build up as much condensation it might still alittle but not as much, I am not sure of this though.

 

it is normal. Especialy if you dont run the bike all the way up to temp. Condensation builds up in the system and if it does not get hot enough to boil it out the weap holes alow it to exit.

 

Correct, there is a drain hole on the underside of each muffler that drains out the condensation. It sounds like you need to take it out for a nice, long ride!

 

Wow. Never heard of/seen this on a bike before in my life. Is this an ancient honda-only thing? It was odd to me b/c it's sat inside the garage for almost 3 months, never a drip, never any water under it at all, and just yesterday I pop in a new battery, let it idle about 5 minutes at the most (probably less) to ensure the battery worked, then rolled it back in the garage. Instant pool underneath, dripping from both sides! And I cleaned the water up probably 4 times between yesterday and this afternoon.Boy...there must be quite a bit of condensation in those pipes, but I guess it only showed up now b/c I only started it now? I went for a short ride (30 minutes) today and I heard the fan on when I came back in (mid-80's here in CA today), and yet when I just now checked there was more water underneath it, even though I parked it with dry concrete under it.

I'm guessing there's a lot more condensation in the pipes that I think?

 

Every time? Is this normal, Jamie? It must have something to do with the cold(er) weather, right? I mean, I rode this thing many times last fall without seeing this weeping...

 

My 2008 Ducati 1098 has drain holes in the pipes as well - so this is not just old bikes. Water should not drip from this hole every time the engine is started up though. If you spray a lot of water in the pipes when you wash it, for example, you can get a decent amount soaked into the packing material. Normally a decent ride (not just around the block) will clear it out. I'd keep an eye on it to see if the dripping persists. If so, I'd start checking your coolant overflow bottle to see if you are losing any, that would indicate a problem. If you fluids stay full then I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

I have yet to ride mine over about 20 min due to the freezing weather and still trying to get everything tuned out. And by "every time" I mean whenever I crank it on the weekends after letting it sit a week it will always pool alittle water, but once I ride somewhere and it warms up it stops.
As Jamie has said check your fluids if they are staying up then the only thing it can really be is condensation.
If you look close at my profile pic you can see the condensation/steam coming out of the pipes..(it will also drip from the weep hole)
Just to throw this out there, you can purchase plugs for your exhaust that will not allow any water to enter while washing, or if you are a handy man you can probably make them it shouldnt be hard.

 

Put 50 miles on it today and so far, no more water. Thanks guys.

 

Watch your local weather forcast. It's got a lot to do with local relative humidity, dew point and temperature. So. Cal is humid. Guys in Arizona with less humidity will have much less of this problem. This is all caused by condensation. If you ever watched a muffler shop install a muffler the last thing they do is drill a hole in the lowest point of the muffler. This is to let the condensation drip out. If they didn't do it the muffler would rust out very fast. If your pipes didn't have the holes the water would just sit at the bottom of the pipe. Your bike is doing what it is supposesd to do!

Maggot