Compression testing: ground the spark plugs?

[Guest]

I want to do a compression test on all four cylinders. I can see from videos that I should take out all of the spark plugs, but I read in a few places that I should ground all of the wires before using the starter for compression or I should turn off the ignition and use my kickstarter.


Any thoughts on this? I've never done a compression test before and there are no videos for four cylinders and I haven't seen one in which they ground the wires.


Thanks for your advice.

[Nessism]

Your bike has points. I doubt anything will get damaged if you don't ground but it won't hurt to do so.

BTW, to do a proper compression check the engine must be hot and the throttle held wide open. You also need to verify the valves are properly adjusted and the bike should not be coming out of long term storage.

[giganticflying]

Great, thank you. I checked the valves a long time ago, but I want to check them again, mostly just out of anxiety and because I just got the bike running better than ever before and don't want to start riding around a burning up valves. I'll check the compression after all that is settled.