Did you hold throttle open during test? That can make a big difference. If the air filter is severely restricted that could also reduce indicated compression and might make engine more prone to flooding. Some of our rigs seem like they have very little cranking resistance/compression, yet they have been running well like that for years. (620 v-twins). If the engine runs well warm and doesn't have excessive blowby I''d be inclined to run it and not go looking for trouble. In the Mules, purging air from the cooling system is critical, and head gasket problems are the common result of neglecting this step. If you really want to wrench on it, you could pull the heads and inspect the valves and cylinders. You could try, with ignition off and/or spark plug leads disconnected, turning the engine over by hand using the primary clutch. This might give you a sense of how the internals are holding up. Don't underestimate your natural senses. A bad valve, for example, may be heard leaking through the intake or exhaust during this procedure. Or leakage past the rings might be heard through the oil filler tube. Stinky oil--just sniffing the dipstick--can indicate bad rings or bad valve seals. If there is a big difference between one cylinder going past TDC and the other, that might also provide some insight. These engines are, in many respects, overbuilt for the amount of power they produce. A 620 cc motorcycle engine typically puts out 40-80 hp, whereas this engine puts out more like 17. Something to keep in mind.

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