TOPIC:

Are all valve lifter buckets moving freely to the cam base circle or does some buckets are stuck in the middle of the lift area?
If so a bend valve is locked in the valve guide and hit the piston dom. An abnormal huge valve clearance will indicate this.

All valves buckets move freely and all clearances are up to spec.

Big thing is rotating motor backwards there's no issues. Rotating forward works for about one full rotation then hits a back. Going backwards after that no problem. Took the oil pan off again to see if there was anything in the engine just in case but nothing there. Was just curious if anything was getting stuck in the gears.

Are the plugs out?
Steve

@Swest Have been yes.

Could something have fallen down into one of the cylinders? or down into the cam chain sprocket?

I fear something has gone down there but I covered everything and have nothing missing. That isn't to say it couldn't have happened unfortunately. That was the reasoning for the oil pan removal (had just recently done it so no scraping necessary).

This bike's odometer is showing 25k. I'm not sure if previous owner did any rebuild of the top end but should I be looking into that direction regardless for good measure. New gaskets etc... New top end rebuild?

I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot because the bike ran great prior to all this and I didn't force anything to bend any valves. Good grief!

Edit: bike ran great before but did a valve clearance check and reshimed. Just to clarify I wasn't fixing something that was working

In one of the earlier photos I noticed your timing was set on the F mark. It should be on the T mark. Are you sure it's on the T mark?

To be clear, the F mark is where the sparkplug fires. This occurs well before the piston reaches top dead center, as indicated by the T mark.

Did you put the tensioner back in and tension the chain before turning over the engine? If so, It may be time to remove the cams again and start over. Before installing the cams you should try to turn the engine over while holding the cam chain up with your hands. Rotate through a few revolutions to make sure the crank and pistons spin smoothly, then start over with the exhaust cam install...

While turning the engine over after your first attempt did you bend a valve? Pushed a little to hard maybe, it doesn't take much effort.

@baldy110 I really tried not to force anything but at this point it could be a sad reality. Next step to check if I did would be what? All valve clearances show correct clearance.

@nessism Everything was installing prior to turning crank over. Tensioner was set back and released after installed on engine case. I'm sure I have to redo my work so I'll be check chain as you mentioned.

@hardrockminer Engine was at TDC on last install. Made sure it was on T Mark and crank didn't move as I installed exhaust cam first then intake.

Quote; While turning the engine over after your first attempt did you bend a valve? Pushed a little to hard maybe, it doesn't take much effort.

@baldy110 I really tried not to force anything but at this point it could be a sad reality. Next step to check if I did would be what? All valve clearances show correct clearance.

You can stick a small flashlight in the intake and exhaust ports and look down the spark plug hole for visible light ( when the valve is closed)
Any light would indicate a bent valve.