Picture 1 is that pitting, that speckled appearance? If so that could be from running lean or high compression I think.. The scratches on the crush ring could be a source of a leak or maybe they're not enough to cause a leak.. Can you feel them when you run your fingernail over them? If so you can spin the head on very fine wet n dry paper on glass to make concentric rings of scratches instead.
Picture 2 is the wet left side from a leak or did the oil just run over there after you loosened/ removed it? It's the stock aluminium gasket so I already hate it (prejudice lol) what is the squish gap measurement with this 0.7mm gasket? Do you have a spare, or any of the copper head gaskets?
Picture 3 are the rings in good order and correctly positioned with the gap over the locating pun in the piston? Are there any of those suspicious speckles on the piston?
Picture 4 is there any trace of the blackened oil in the crankcase or is that just a bit of scorching on the base gaskets.
I would like to see the top of the cylinder too. Also you could check inside the mag cover and the clutch cover to see if any fuel is present (from a crank seal leak) just in case.
1. The speckling wiped clean and was smooth underneath.
2. The wet left side was indeed I believe a leak and I replaced the aluminum gasket with 2 stock aluminum gaskets in an attempt to see what it does with a slightly lower compression.
3. The rings seem to be in good working order and there aren’t any speckles on the piston I could find. What would the speckles mean if there were?
4. There was some darker oil down in the crankcase, I wouldn’t call it blackened but it looked like the color of honey.
I replaced everything back on the bike with the two aluminum head gaskets just to see what it would do with lowering the compression. The bike started up just fine now but is still acting up on the throttle side of things. When I give it some throttle it’s acting like there’s an air leak but I cannot for the life of me find anything. I used a propane torch, not lit, while the bike was idling and pointed it at every crack and seal around the intake manifold and my intake tubing and all around the carb. The engine didn’t change pace at all until I put the torch near the air filter and then it bogged and died as normal when I check with propane. I pulled the magneto cover and it’s clean as a whistle in there no gas or any residue of anything.