the reason for putting oil in the cylinders was to seal the gap causing the leak past the rings. if the rings are worn pressure will escape past the ring and the cycinder wall, because oil is thick it seals these gaps temporarily allowing compression, Im not saying the shop is right cause every one else has a good point, a second opinion is definately needed, leakdown, compression tests need to be done. those will determine whats wrong, its either rings or gasket.

 

I see that you have 22k on your bike. With an older engine, the rings can have some wear, and that leaves it really vulnerable to an instance of flooding. By this, I mean that if the bike happens to get flooded, the excess fuel will wash down the cylinder walls and give you a low compression reading. On the other side, yes, the rings may be worn, but the engine, or you may not necessarily be ready for a rebuild. What I would do is remove the plugs, add a bit of oil to each cylinder, install new plugs, and then see how it runs. If they told you they added oil to the cylinders to make it run, then try that. Heck, it may even run fine when you get it back. See what happens, and if you still have a running problem, then a leak-down test, as mentioned before, may be the next step.

 

Hello. I realize this is an older thread, but it will have relevance to those finding. Well, the last guy seems to be adding his 2 cents, but not much additionally "useful" info.

Here's the thing...

Follow your service manual in order of suggested maintenance procedures. There is a reason for this order. You can take compression test before checking valves, but the results are going to be a high-level costing of the issue. Which is to say, that you would have a general idea of the direction this is going in regards to maintenance.

The first signs of bad compression are felt by the rider in the form of decreased performance. There may be some other signs like residues showing up at points where gaskets should be keeping things flowing through their correction passages (internally).

The thing is... your cam lobes will wear. This will cause incorrectly timed intake/exhaust valve movements. The wear will cause incomplete/inefficient opening of these valves which, in the case of intake, causes an incomplete charge and a less than optimally combusted charge. In the case of exhausting, the pressure of the spent charge in the form of exhaust gases trying to escape will be retarded by inefficiently opening of the exhaust valve. This can manifest in the form a residues left by gases pushing out from between the head and intake and eventually wearing a clean passage through the head/intake gasket.

Here's an animation, that shows you the basic operation of combustion engine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep1NhANcCL4

In short, shim your valves, and check again. Depending on how much you value your time or what your budget or preferences are, you may want to replace the head gasket. I think most would opt to rebuild beyond that.

Cheers!!