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We blew a head gasket on our Ninja 500 a while ago, but the symptoms were different.
Depending on where the leak is, a blown head gasket may not allow coolant into the oil.
In our case, combustion pressure leaked into the cooling system - over-pressurizing it. The coolant then filled and overflowed the reservoir bottle as soon as the engine warmed-up.
As suggested - I would try the compression test first, just to get more info before pulling things apart. I wouldn't disassemble any more than necessary to cure the problem if everything else has been working properly.
If you do pull the head and cylinder, I suggest being prepared to lap them both before reassembly. I would also get your hands on a service manual of some kind to help you through the process if you are not familiar. We purchased an online Service Manual from Cyclepedia for the 500 that was pretty good.
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