@Since 1968 good thing to consider, I was searching for one I could rent but oreillys doesn't seem to have one. Did you get a harbor freight one by chance? Saw one from hen for 80 and with 30% off but an earlier comment had a video of a HF compression tester that was junk and doesn't work so I'm not too positive about it...

 

I read through the whole thread.... it seems your compression is low at 130-140 psi, but that's certainly enough for the engine to run. The compression tester you rented was suspect, with a leaking schrader valve. Your battery is showing adequate voltage before cranking, but it's possible that it no longer has the capacity it needs to make everything work correctly. And, there are other possible causes for the plugs not firing. I suggest taking your battery in to a shop for a load test to ensure it's not a contributing issue. I also suggest repeating the compression test with another tester, being absolutely sure the ACR's are closed. It does seem suspicious that you got the same results whether the ACR's were connected or not.... Then you can do a compression test without adding a bit of oil to the cylinders, then repeat after adding a bit of oil. If the readings are higher, you most likely have a piston ring problem. If there is no change, you may have a valve problem, assuming you actually do have low compression compared to what your cam manufacturer says to expect. With confidence that the compression truly is low, you can do the leakdown test. When I did mine I was a bit panicked because the readings were really bad. Then I realized that the air was actually moving the pistons (rookie mistake). I got acceptable readings when I did the test with the bike in gear while sitting on it and holding the rear brakes on.
It really sucks when you are chasing a possible mechanical problem along with an electrical gremlin or two. I'm looking forward to seeing how you get this all resolved.

 

@paulmedford @Since 1968
am going to be busy next few days so may not get to this til weekend, but my plan of attack is going to be this:
1- recheck compression as I readjusted pushrods see what its at
2- go to autozone, have them check my battery and rent a 2nd compression tester.
3- check ckp voltage while cranking engine, will get video of this too
4- If compression is still low add some oil and recheck
5- if still low will find a leak down tester and perform this.
6- hope I will find issue by this time... will contact s&s as well to see what compression should be.

 

sounds like a reasonable plan

 

On leakdown testers, I ordered mine from Amazon:


The $25 price was a huge red flag I suppose. It looked good enough for a casual and infrequent user like me, and once I got the hose replaced it's 'okay'. So I can definitely suggest what not to buy, but I hope someone else chimes in with a good recomendation for a halfway decent tester. Or maybe NAPA or one of the other stores acually rent one?

 

You can test the valve seal with the hose from the compression tester, remove the schrader valve, and use your air compressor hose connected to the tester hose.

Normally you would put the cylinder on TDC compression stroke, put bike in 6th, step on the brake to keep the engine from turning, or completely loosen both pushrods on the cylinder being tested, to guarantee the valves are closed, then it doesn't matter if the engine turns when you put air pressure in the cylinder.
edit; do this with the rear wheel off the ground, so the bike won't move if the engine turns, leave in neutral if loosening the pushrods

Listen at the intake and exhaust for air leaking past valves.
No leaks are ideal, a slight hiss isn't too bad, if it's blowing, you have a valve problem.
Leaking out the exhaust could also be an ACR problem, but I don't doubt both would be leaking, unless they where screwed up in some way.

 

thinking back I may have a valve seal issue so I will give this a go as well. When installing them I couldn't really push them in so I got them seated as far in I could then put the valve springs on to get them seated rest of way (unless they aren't and are leaking). Do I need to remove the exhaust or can I probably get away with hearing it while exhaust is on?

 

I think your referring to the valve stem oil seals,
I'm referring to the valves sealing as in not leaking compression.

 

@Ez Glide Take a look at this

DK usually knows what he's doin

WP

 

@Schex I definitely was. When rebuilding I took valves off heads and made sure to mark what position they were in so it goes back in same spot, I used a dremel and polishing cloth bit to clean the valves up with brake cleaner. Was it not good to do that? Didn't think it would alter it much if any... I'll look into that as one of the first things I do