i was always told 4 as well. but the factory service manual says t crank till the gauge stops rising. i also talked to another motor cycle mechanic and he  said for bikes it is more that 4 compression strokes, and that you crank till the needle stops raising.  --- On Sun, 8/23/09, Brandon Burdette <brandon.burdette@...> wrote: From: Brandon Burdette <brandon.burdette@...> Subject: Re: [KawasakiZX7RR] still searching To: KawasakiZX7RR@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 9:59 PM   I concur. Should be at the 145/high compression mark by 4. Be careful not to add more than a teaspoon of the oil, a liquid will not compress. A teaspoon is just about perfect for the combustion chamber though.   It doesn't take much to burn a set of rings up... One late oil change, overheat, wrong jetting combined with a few top-end runs. Could have happened any number of ways. On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 2:53 PM, Skeet Wyman <cgifly2@gmail. com> wrote:   Air out of the intake is the culprit. Valve leaking will cause poor vaccum. And you should only need 4 stroke peroid for the 145. Try it dry for 4 comp strokes then add a tea spoon of oil in the cylinder for 4 I think youll see big jump in compression confirming my suspicion you rings are sacked. Skeet On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 10:47 AM, hessdawg78 <hessdawg78@yahoo. com> wrote:   hey all I'm still tracking down my vacuum problem.i found a 10mm adapter for my compression gauge. with 4 compression strokes on each cyl i'm getting 90psi. at 12 comp strokes I'm getting 140-150psi. On a leakdown test with 100psi in the cyl it holds 95psi. i can hear a little bit of air out of the intake and a little out of the timing cover.the bike runs and idles but the vacuum is right around 8 inches of mercury. I have checked for vacuum leaks as well as cam timing. couple questions 1. how many compression strokes do you need for a compression test? 2. is 5 psi leak acceptable for a leakdown test? 3. could the cam chain stretch???? 4 could a bad cdi igniter box cause this??? thanks brad -- Where ever you go thats where you are, so think about where your going!