Motorcycle Repair: smoking, yamaha yzf 600, valve guides

Question
I want to buy my firs motorcycle. It is a 1998 Yamaha YZF 600 and the guy that is selling it said that it is all in great working order but smokes a little during acceleration. Is this a big deal? What could be some solutions to this problem (he said maybe a change of gaskets would do the trick)?

Your help would be greatly appreciated,
Adam


Answer
I usually only answer questions on harleys, but I might be able to help. Smoking is a sign that you are burning oil. All motors burn a little oil. Oil can get into the cylinder from either the valve guides or past the rings. The only way to be sure that there is no problem is to do a compression test and a bleed down test. This will let you know if there is a problem.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike