[Sullybiker]

Yep I got there in the end, it was pretty quick once the cover was off. A lot the bolts on my bike are pretty tight from the factory; the drain plug before my first oil change, and valve cover bolts required a fair bit of persuasion. They let go with a little squeak.

I took one look at the little side cover as soon as the bike arrived, and I knew from experience the little stainless screws would be trouble to get out. I didn't try hard at all and decided not to bother. They're very hard metal, but they just didn't budge.

Good tip on the piston thing - I never even thought of that, and that's a handy tip if the flywheel viewport is hard to open (I chewed up the one on my Ninja trying take it off, it is softer than chocolate.)

The valves themselves were tight, but the bike wasn't giving any clues they were. I couldn't get a 0.02 feeler gauge in there, but then the feeler gauges are so flimsy at that width that you can't put a lot of of pressure on them. Adjusting them was really nice and straightforward, even if I was chasing the adjustment around a bit.

I also cleaned up and greased the kickstarter lever mechanism and roller-lock, the wet weather had caused it to oxidise pretty badly around the short pin where the kicker arm rotates.

One thing I did notice when I put everything away is that the toolkit has a double ended socket, and I wondered if this was the right size for the plug. I'll check next time.

The oil filter thimble thing was absolutely spotless. Pretty pleased with the engine.