Motorcycle Repair: hello have 1975 kawasaki..., kawasaki z1 900, camshaft timing

Question
hello   have 1975 kawasaki z1 900  bike sat for year    it was running but very badly  person before worked on gear box said it skipped a tooth  i dont know how      but anyway  got it all back together  now problem is valves  get compression out of only no1 cylinder   i put cam chain on according to book    but something is not right   engine no z1f-68868  

Answer
Hi John,

I would need to inspect the engine to accurately offer diagnosis. However, if you're sure the camshaft timing chain is properly installed, ideas that come to mind are:

damaged valves & valve seats
defective head gasket
worn piston rings
worn cylinders
slotted camshaft sprockets (out-of-degree)
wrong repair manual specs (model year variations)

Have a friend or someone else double-check the cam chain timing by counting the points. Let them read the text and perform their own count as you did. Compare results.

Perform a leak-down test to determine which part(s) are causing the leaks.

Respectfully,
Mark Shively