copper head gasket

[james]

When I replaced the head gasket , I had to untorque the head to put on the sleeve guide I forgot. Now compression is only 80 lbs. hot. 90 with a capful of oil. Do I bite the bullet and buy another $100 copper OEM gasket or can I anneal the copper gasket and spray it with copper gasket spray. The valves are in tolerance and the compression is equal in all cylinders. The bike runs great, 1980 GS 850G but it doesn't redline as fast as it use too.

[tatu]

If its the gasket thats leaking you wil know about it real quick, if its not obvious I'd let it do a few heat cycles and then retorque.
A puffing head gasket will squeek, overheat, and leave marks and oil all over, of you have none of these then you're ok.
Increase of compression after adding oil is indicative of worn piston rings, I don't know what it should be but 90 psi sounds low. Have you got the throttle wide open when you do the test?
I was unaware that Suzuki did copper gaskets.

[james]

Thanks for the reply Tatu,
I did retorque after running a bit, no improvement. There is no leakinjg oil. I Lapped the valves anything else I can do to fix this. Do you think that the head will seal up with carbon after awhile.

Thanks James

[chef1366]

Yes you can reuse the gasket.
Are you sure the head settled after installing the dowels? If it did you have another issue like cam chain timing or valves not seating.