Hi again Auke,
I 've just got the rocker cover off again and am about to check the timing, so I really need to get the right mark - At the crank I now have it lined up on the single mark that I described earlier (but I have not changed the camshaft alignment, yet!) and it makes a difference of about 10-15 degrees in the angle of the two timing marks on the camshaft gearwheel to the cyl head - looking at the cam lobes, that would make quite a difference to when the valves open and close.
AND the bike kicks over very freely now that the rocker cover is off and the spark plug is out; it was "jamming" earlier at about the 2/3 point in the full range of the kickstart movement and it was very difficult to get it to go past this point and on toward the footpeg; in fact most of the time, it would not go past that 2/3 point - bearing in mind all of the earlier advice about the engine must turn over freely by hand before attempting to start it, I am concerned to get this right this time. The way it has been this past day or so, it would not start anyway on the kickstart because there simply was not enough travel in the kick action (& I believe that the decompression lever was set up OK).

Back to the T mark for a moment: are there any more marks on that flywheel that I should be able to see (covered in oil, they are not easy to see anyway)? I ask because my manual is a bit confusing in the section for re-assembling the engine; it talks about (and shows a view of) aligning marks on the crankcase with the camchain driving gearwheel at the bottom of the engine i.e. with the crankcase lefthand cover off.
As I said in my previous post, the "implication" of the adjustment section of the manual is that the single mark on the flywheel is relevant for the valves with the H type mark used for a strobe light. It even shows the H mark just to the left of the single mark i.e. the 10 degrees or so mentioned above.

Apart from that, I have been experimenting with a timber ladder put under the bike and using that as a lever to lift the engine toward the upper frame - I reckon that will work when I eventually get back to that stage!!

Summary: my main concern at present is to get the timing right AND that the bike turns over freely when the engine is back together.

Apologies to one and all for such long postings!! but I have not done this before!!!!!

Not able to progress this tomorrow (another day off!) so loads of time to keep me on the straight and narrow path.

Dave

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Dave