ok so after some feed back on some of my images in this thread i decided to investigate, i started with a compression test and a first time to pull the plugs and check them dont know why i hadnt done before, they looked ok with the eception of number 2 cylinder, which is the same cylinder thad had the coolant crystals growing around the exhaust ports.
the picture isnt great but the plug looks almost rusty and looking into the cylinder there seems to be a build up but what and why is the question, i decided to run a battery of tests to try and help me decide whether to remove the head or not i have decided with some advice from the techs at work to use compression test, leak down test and a clearance check, the reasons being they will narrow down the possible issues a sniff test would be helpful if the bike was able to run the aim was to rule out head gasket and major valve issues the ideal out come would be all 3 being within tolerance, how ever the images below are from the compression test the number of fingers is the number of the cylinder(i couldnt find a note pad)
so from this you can see the two centre cylinders are way low now at this point its looking that either the two centre cylinders have tightened up on the clearences, or matching up the other sympton the head gasket has failed between the two and the water jacket, so to rule out the clearence issues i did the checks made up a sheet preparing to have to change them and well they were all within tolerance the exhaust valves on No.3 were nearing the upper limit but were within i will change them to get it inline with the others as i would see that as good working practice. next i started to remove the camshafts, i removethem before a leak down test as this means all valves are closed and there is less chance of a false reading, this is the last test if it is the headgasket that at this point is pretty much a certanty, how ever they maybe more issues here are some of the possibilities:- air bubbling in the header tank = headgasket, air escaping in to the crank=headgasket/piston rings, air escaping in to the other cylinders= headgasket/cracked or pourous block/warped head, lastly air escaping through head valve stems/valve stem seals.
this is where i am currently i should also say you can see some discoloured oil dispite a change and leads toward the headgasket also.