Compression Test...

[treitz]

First off... bike specs: 1979 XS400

So I've searched high and low online and found conflicting answers. This is my first time testing compression on a kick only bike, so the question is...

how many times should you kick it over for a compression test?

1) First article I read said that you should only have to kick it 3 - 5 times to reach maximum compression.

2) Second article said kick it until it stops going up.

So here are my results... I can get both cylinders to read 145lb's if I kick it 10 - 15 times. Question is, if the first article is correct, the compression is bad. If the second article is right, the compression is good.

Thoughts?

 

[focusinprogress]

I've always kicked until it stops rising. It's difficult to get the same number of strokes from a kick lever that you get from rolling the electric start for a couple seconds.....kick it the 10-15 times and then leave the gauge for 20mins and go see if it still reads within 10% of that number....if so you're good to go.

 

[treitz]

I've always kicked until it stops rising. It's difficult to get the same number of strokes from a kick lever that you get from rolling the electric start for a couple seconds.....kick it the 10-15 times and then leave the gauge for 20mins and go see if it still reads within 10% of that number....if so you're good to go.

thank you sir

 

[frogman]

Kick the hell out of it as many times as it takes before the needle stops rising. Throttle OPEN choke OPEN. Better yet carbs off and do it.

 

[High On Octane]

Yes, make sure the throttle is wide open and kick until it stops going up.

 

[xb33bsa]

and if the shraeder valve in the gauge hose end adapter is leaking down then you will not get accurate results

 

[treitz]

This is exactly how I did it. Thanks for confirming guys.