TOPIC:

Thanks for the input - Will try dropping some oil in the cylinders to see if the compression is affected by this. Also will check cams. Will probably be about 2 weeks until I get a chance to mess around with this again so will keep you guys posted.
The strange thing about the oil consumption is the first 500 miles before this I had very little consumption or smoking.
I did check the clearances after the first 100 miles but have not since.

Getting 30 across the board and my first thought is your compression tester has developed a leak. I don't think I've ever seen numbers that low. Can you borrow another tester? Did you do the check with a fresh charged battery and throttle wide open (WOT)?

jenkrider wrote: Thanks for the input - Will try dropping some oil in the cylinders to see if the compression is affected by this. Also will check cams. Will probably be about 2 weeks until I get a chance to mess around with this again so will keep you guys posted.
The strange thing about the oil consumption is the first 500 miles before this I had very little consumption or smoking.
I did check the clearances after the first 100 miles but have not since.

Oil consumption might have been less if you were taking it steadier for the first 500 miles. I have to agree with the last post that it is strange that all cylinders would be that low. Do you feel any compression with the kick start, at 30 psi if that's the correct figure, it would turn over very easily, you wouldn't feel the resistance as pistons come to TDC on the compression stroke.

Change your oil and get a good charge in the battery try and get the motor started and leave a fan running on the motor while you get it up to temp,then do the compression test again.
Once you get a baseline then check your valve clearances to see how close they are.

Bent valves would read this...... a clearance of .010 to .015 thousands when you had 4 or 5 before would tell ya.

I agree, these numbers are super low. It is a new compression tester, never needed one before. There is some resistance with kickstart - feels about like it always has. Because of the gearing these bikes are super easy to kick over...and it feels the same.

As far as starting the bike for baseline numbers, that is the problem...it will not start. At all. Went from running great and screaming down the highway to nothing.

To do list includes:
Re-doing the compression test and trying with a bit of oil in cylinders
Checking cam timing
Measuring valve clearances

I will say that after replacing the stator I checked the ignition timing with my light and it appeared to be off - which is odd. Need to also re-visit this but ran out of time the other day.

Unfortunately for anyone trying to help or anyone interested in the outcome this will be a slow process but it will happen.

That is one hell of a sexy bike. I hope you get it figured out soon.

Ok folks, I think I have solved the problem!!!

Finally got to work on the bike today - pulled the valve cover - cams are timed correctly still in relation to each other and the crank. So I'm thinking well what the hell.....Then it hits me like a ton of bricks! I haven't checked the head bolts yet! Not since the first couple times I ran the new top end anyway. The only other thing I could think of besides jumping cam timing which would give such low compression on all cylinders...a loose head!

So I grab ye old 14 mm and bam...first one I try is loose...like quarter turn before remotely tight loose. Long story short they were all really loose and I re-torqued them down to 25 ft/lb.

Grab the can of starting fluid, give it a squirt...and VROOM!!

Tomorrow I will use my gas bladder to make sure it will run like it should. Boy...if I had only checked this 5 months ago. I could've fixed it in the shell station parking lot. Oh well, live and learn!

Thanks for the compliments and input,
Will post again when it is all back together and hopefully running. On the bright side the bike got a new stator out of the deal which also fixed the bothersome stator grommet oil leak....

Steve

I like your air filter. Where did you buy it and how much was it?
Did you forget to torque nuts properly or
they got lose for some reason?

With all of the head bolts loose I'd be suspect of the head gasket now. If it ran with them that loose. If it never started them I'm guessing you just forgot to torque and re-check torque before final assembly. Nobody's perfect and the gasket is probably fine.

Just to get peace of mind recheck the compression numbers and confirm they are all close to each other across the board. A leak down test would not be out of the question either.

Oh and about your air filter. I like it! Where did you find it or is it home brew?