Started pulling my new 748 to bits to overhaul it. The belts were well and truly knackered and are now off and marked up ready for when the new ones arrive. I've stripped all the stuff off the engine with a view to dropping it out to get good access to the valves. So far I've checked the vertical cylinder clearances to get an idea how things are. Was a bit surprised to see that all clearances are on the tight side. The 3 of the closes are less than 0.05mm but the closer shims rotate and there is no drag on the cams. All the openers are around 0.05mm tighter than recommended. My gut feeling says that they have been set that way deliberately.
I remember reading somewhere a while ago that some mechanics had been setting the closers tight to get a better behaved bike at low speeds. Is this so? Otherwise I will pull the cam gear to bits and get shiming!
Apart from the valves the biggest hitch I've come across so far is a ding in the front wheel. Luckily the bike came with a spare set. I would like to see if I can straighten the dent, it is failry long and shallow so it should be possible. It's going to be a fun winter.