VB600 compression

[Geoffrey Lord]

I've now got about 75 shakedown miles on the clock of my newly completed VB and it seems to be settling down well.

A couple of things I've noticed which intrigue me are the very high compression when cold and a small amount of oil from the head gasket. There may be a connection between these issues.

The barrel is newly bored and honed to the correct clearances. Admittedly I'm not the heaviest person but I can stand and even jump on the kick-start lever! Having said that my starting technique is pretty good and with good use of the decompressor it starts easily.

I also had a small amount of oil appear at the head gasket at the back of the piston area. Is this a feature of the iron head side valve?

Has anyone tried replacing the 3rd compression ring with an oil control ring?

Shaping up to be a great bike.