07 blown head gasket purchase

[fl0w3n]

I’m potentially looking at picking up an 07 classic with 170k miles with an assumed blown head gasket for a good price.

supposedly it drinks coolant at a decent rate.

curious if there’s anything I can do short of lifting the heads off to make sure it didn’t bend a rod or damage itself internally.

 

[Yngdmax92]

Compression test it. Balance rates will give you a slight piece of mind as well. Start it up on a cold morning and skip the glow plugs - if the thing chugs and coughs or haze's bad there's a descent sign something might be wrong.

 

[fl0w3n]

Mornings don’t get too cold here Yet but I’ll try when I can get over there. Will the coughing and chugging point to potential top end problems?