Compression testing

[arnehulstein]

Ok, here is the deal, I posted about the XJ550 on the XJbikes forum, because they seem to have a lot more of those about than XJRider has. Besides the fact that there was very little response on the bike, the only response I got was to check the valve clearances and the compression of the engine. Now I know about the first, I just need to get some feelers to be able to check it. But then the compression test. Is there a way I can do that without having all kinds of fancy garage equipment? Is there some kind of thing I can knock up like the syncing board with the water tubes etc?


To be honest, the engine feels nice, turns over nicely and pulls well. I am not to worries about either. Apparently the engine was services a couple of months before I got it. But it would be nice to be able to do some kind of grass-roots compression testing.