help with compression readings??

[Noho Drewster]

Hello folks,
Borrowed a compression tester from local mechanic and did compression test on a new to me '90 w/ 60k miles.  P/O had petcock gas leak and fired up the bike with a loud backfire through exhaust.  Bought the bike figuring worse case I'd part it out, but would be a shame to break up this bike as cosmetically it's in really good condition. 
Did the hydro-lock test and cylinder measurements are good.  P/O claimed that cylinder 3 and 4 were not holding pressure with compression test, but I did it myself, and the compression held for all 4 cylinders.
The readings are:
           Dry          Wet
#1          180          185
#2          190          205
#3          170          175
#4          160          165
Are these acceptable readings, or should I be concerned that there is something major going on.  I'm willing to take the cylinder head off and take a look at valves and head gasket.  Everything looks good under the valve cover, I adjusted the valves, and valve clearances were not too far off to start.  Fired her up and white oily smoke was coming from exhaust. Took for a short ride (2 miles), swapping my '98 tank for the ride.  Ran pretty crappy under 3000 rpm, but over that it was a rocket.  White smoke disappeared after the ride.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks , Drew

[qman]

Don't jump in too deep before you check the simple stuff!!
If he ran it infrequently, or for short rides, it's not uncommon for the compression to be all over the place. The other possibilitly is the ignition wires may be corroded or the spark plug connectors may be "open" ie too much resistance.
I would start by pulling the wires and checking the resistance. Unscrew the plug connectors and check for corrosion. Check to make sure the mixture screws aren't all over the place. Base setting for these is about 2 full turns. New spark plugs for sure and since you checked the valves and they're ok, I'd do these things and then give it a really hard run.
After you come back, with the engine warm, recheck the compression

I have a client with an old carburetted porsche that doesn't drive it more than 1k a year, and when he does.....he putters around. He comes to me a least once a year or so to say it's not running right. After he drops it off I give it the ol' "italian tune up" and when I come back it purrs. This of course was after making sure the first time that all was in order, and making sure nothing had changed in the mean time.

The compression test is more of an indicator, if you want to know where the problem lies then you would need a leakdown tester HTH
Rob

[Daytona_Mike]

Leaking  float valves cause the bike to blow white to a bluish white smoke when you do not have over flow tubes. Been there ,done that!
What your are describing matches perfectly to that problem. After your ride the leak cleared up (white oily smoke) because the piece of debris or dirt cleared out of the  needles seat.
Right now your engine is fine but if you do not install over flow tubes  you may very well cause  major damage.

[Noho Drewster]

Okay guys,
Thanks fr your help.  Looks like I'll start with the simpler things.  P/O never had the carbs off and cleaned, so I'm sure there's some gunk in there, and float needles may be shot.  Wires, tank cleaned, new petcock or rebuild, clean carbs, fuel filter, and see what happens.
Thanks again,
Drew

[medicevans]

Per the factory Kawi manual:
Thoroughly warm up the engine
Attach the compression gauge
Use the starter motor to turn the engine over with the throttle fully open until the gauge stops rising.
Usable range: 128-196 psi