bugyboi

I just picked up a 1995 750 zxi for family use. It runs fine & I had no problems during a 4 day trip to the lake. I got home & decided to check compression. I got the thing warmed up & found compression to be 120 & 150. The Kawasaki service manual says compression should be 129-199. Others have told me ">135 with both cylinders within 10%"

I don't want to do the top end unless I have to

Any thoughts?

Thanx

mdh

ggauvin

You are not "too far" out of spec, but enough to be of some concern. Try the compression check again... maybe with a different gauge. Don't add any oil or other compression "aids". You've probably got bad rings, or bad head gasket. Either way the prudent thing is to take the head off and check for gasket problems, and look for cylinder wall scoring (broken rings). Note the plugs for color/condition to see if either is lean condition which can affect temperature (and maybe compression if the jug gets hot enough.) On the other hand, practically speaking, if its just nominal ring wear, you could just put a new head gasket on and run out the rest of the season. For just foolin' around family use (i.e. No serious extended full throttle and wake jumping), it doesn't have to be perfect. But if its broken rings (scoring), I'd fix it sooner rather than later to save the jug with minimal machining.