Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but this hits closest to my set of questions.
I adjusted valves on my FJR today, put it back together, and found that in an effort to put them in the middle of the adjustment range, I over-shot and need to go back where it was before. I forgot about positioning the motor in a specific position and took the intake cam off. I tried to put it back on and turn the engine, but it bound up somewhere, and rather than push anything, I assumed the cam chain jumped a tooth. Long story short, I now have both cams off, and I have no idea which side of the stroke the engine is in. I planned on sticking a dowel rod in the spark plug hole of the #1 cylinder, but I can't find anywhere that anyone actually defines which is what cylinder. From what I have seen, I'm guessing the far left (sitting on the bike) cylinder is #1.
What I need is:
Clarification- far left cylinder is #1, and when mark on engine timing plate lines up is at TDC.
I don't know exactly what mark on the timing plate to use. I see what I think are the marks, but there is no mark on the engine casting to line up with. It must not need precision, just approximately horizontal?
I took the camshafts off to mark the rear of the cam sprocket, but from what I have read people just line up the holes in the shafts instead.
Any additional help/pictures would be awesome! Where do I go from here, etc.