1988 GSX1100f engine into 1997 GSX600f teapot

[Dr Jon]

Well it was really just an engine swap with a bit of fiddling around with brackets for the oil cooler so no big deal. Actually i did do it in my shed but it's only a small shed with a small awkward door to get in so once the bike is back outside with its clothes on it has to stay there which is why i'm fiddling with carbs etc under a gazebo in the pissing rain.

I'm afraid i haven't got much experience of stripping these motors beyond valve clearances (I've done plenty of other engines though). I think the compression should be in the region of 140 to 150 psi and as you say the four cylinders should be somewhere near each other. If one is way different to another then you do have a problem. I'm not really much of a perfectionist and never have much cash to spend on the bikes anyway so my advice would be that if it spins over nicely then set the clearances and check the cam chain tension while you've got the motor on the bench then sling it in the bike and fire her up with some new plugs and oil/filter. If you've got the use of an engine hoist and a friend then it's dead easy to do.

If you are planning to keep it long term and are keen to get into the guts then it's always nice to polish up the inlet/exhaust tracts, lap all the valves in and fit new stem seals etc. You might as well fit new rings and give the bores a hone while you're in there. Check the cam chain tensioners for damage. I would very much doubt you'd need anything doing to the bottom end beyond maybe some clutch plates and springs. If you're very keen you could fit a new camchain, they're only single row chains on the 750f so an upgrade to heavy duty chain wouldn't go amiss. Better to split the cases and fit the chain properly rather than cut and join after threading through from the top. Even this fairly basic rebuild will set you back a couple of hundred quid so be sure you want to get this involved. As i say, i'd just chuck it in and run it round without the fairing for a few miles to see what it's like first. Definitely want to give the carbs a good balance, will make a huge difference. The clutch baskets are quite often noisy and this is much worse if the carbs are out of balance. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. If you've only ridden the 600 before then you're in for a treat with the 750. It'll be a lot quicker than you expect.

As for mine, i've fixed the petrol leak (pinched gasket on the float bowl) and have got new tyres, chain and sprockets (15:45 gearing) ready to go on. Got the day off on friday so will hopefully get it done then. Just need to balance the carbs, i need to buy some adapters to suit my gauges. It actually starts instantly and runs beautifully smoothly as it is so i'm very pleased. Not in the same league as some of the monster turbo nutters on here but still seriously quick by any standards. For a wish list i'd like some better carbs (750fs) and a freshen-up rebuild as i've described above but for now i'll save my cash for petrol and just blam round on it as it is for a few months. I'll post a final round up with mpg etc once i've put the new gearing and tyres on.

[Dr Jon]

Ok, so a last round up of the 6/11 swap. I fitted the new tyres (Maxxis SuperMax, plenty good enough for me and nice and cheap) and a new DiD x-ring chain and sprockets. Actually had a dry afternoon (roads still damp though) so been for a good test ride to get an idea of mpg etc. in the real world). Stuck to about 80mph or so with a squirt up to 140 and a few drop it down a couple of cogs to third and open her up a bit. Gearing is now 15:45 (3:1 reduction) which feels absolutely bang on, less hunting around for a sixth gear now. Doing about 5k rpm at 80mph. Very civilised at lower revs and speeds, much more relaxed than the 600 as you might expect with massive roll-on power. The bigger touring screen was deflecting quite badly at 140 mph (closed private race track blah blah fkn blah) and definitely causing a bit of instability when shutting off from that speed and slowing down, may have to re-fit the sportier 600 one. Funny, made me think the stupid power screen thing on the original 1100 might actually make some sense!

Whacking it open in third to overtake a line of cars on the straight from about 50 to 120 mph was awesome, monster acceleration with me laughing my head off like a lunatic for the next few miles. Yes all you insane 300bhp turbo nutters will be smiling indulgently but by any standard this is now a seriously quick bike. Frame, swinging arm etc. all seem to be handling it no problem, definitely a lot more rigid and stable than my old 1000RX which twisted in the middle when you really opened it up (not saying that that wasn't fun though). The old girl feels very happy with its new motor, helped a lot by the shock upgrade, little bit bouncy still so will need to play around setting the re-bound up properly. Fixed the float bowl petrol leak and the mpg is now a lot more sensible, thank fuck, I was seriously worried since I do a lot of miles and it was looking pretty dire last time I rode it. Used 5.24 litres in 56 miles today at fairly normal (for me anyway) road speeds, i.e. steady 70 to 80mph with the occasional squirt. That works out at 48.6 mpg which will do me very nicely. Pretty much the same as the 600 at the same sort of speeds. Should give me a comfortable 150 mile tank range and about 100 miles for £10. Very happy with that! It is  burning a bit of oil though but I can live with that until I can afford to give the motor a bit of a rebuild later this year perhaps. All in all, I'm really pleased with the end result, feels like a new bike, total cost has been £250 for the engine and carbs (my half of the £500 we paid for the whole 1100f), £40 for oil and filter and clutch fluid and a fiver for some new oil hose. Another £250 for new tyres chain and sprockets, but it needed them anyway so that doesn't really count. Very happy :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Motovalet]

Excellent! All in all you've had a right royal result by anybody's standard! What you need now is a wider rear wheel, maybe out of a GSXR of some sort and a Bandit 12 swinging arm and whilst you're at it an upside down front end, that would look like really trick teapot!! :-) Thanks by the way for the advice on my 750 engine overhaul, I'll heed your considered wisdom and check the valves, cam chain, do a compression test, bung in fresh oil and plugs and go for it! Turns out the 750F motor I  bought as 1990 750 (and therefore a short stroke motor) is actually a 749cc long stroke motor, it definitely isn't a later 750F and seems to be a much earlier GSXR750 motor, possibly a slabbie? it certainly looks scruffy enough to be that old! Plus I have some 36mm carbs that need a full rebuild, anyway it won't be as powerful as your sleeper build but should still be quick enough for me. My other current ride is a boring but nicely modded and 'fightered 600 Yam "Fader" and so long as it puts out similar power (around 95BHP) I'll be happy. It's all relative at the end of the day as this time last year I owned a seriously quick blue printed gen one 1300 Hayabusa and frankly any bike after that will always feel diluted, but I reckon in the real world on todays roads an old teapot 600 kicking out hopefully nearly a 100 ponies should be plenty, time will tell! One more thing whilst I have your attention lol, when refitting my lump, as I don't have your nifty engine hoist, do you reckon it's better to bolt up the motor to the lower cradle first and then maybe use a jack to somehow manoeuvre it into place? I nearly broke my bloody back lifting the thing out of the boot of my car the other day and I'm not looking forward to putting it back into my nicely repainted 600 frame for fear of scratching it all to buggery! 

[Dr Jon]

Ha, yes, compared to a Busa pretty much anything is going to feel a bit tame. As for getting the engine in the frame without a hoist, it's a total ballache of a job, we did do it once using jacks and wooden blocks but was a total bastard and you would almost certainly end up bashing your lovely frame paint finish about. I certainly wouldn't advise fitting the cradle first, I think it would actually just get in the way. Your priority is to get the two rear engine bolts in, once that's done the rest is easy and you don't want the cradle getting in the way of lining those up. Since you've pretty much got a stripped frame anyway I would suggest taking the wheels, forks and perhaps even the swinging arm back off and with the help of a friend lift the frame onto the motor rather than lifting the motor into the frame. You'll need to set the motor up on some blocks propped up fairly securely a bit of a way up off the floor, maybe a foot or so then lift the frame onto it, it will be much easier this way around. Ideally two of you lifting the frame and another steadying the motor. Once the back bolts are through you can rebuild your rolling chassis and then finish off the engine cradle etc. This shouldn't be too much trouble with the 750 motor as it's not much bigger than the 600 so you've got a bit of room to move the frame around to get things lined up. I think it would be near impossible to get the 1100 motor in without the hoist, clearances were so tight things had to be bang on to go in. Ideally leave the main stand on if you've still got it and you can then prop the frame and engine up on this and some blocks to get your forks back on. Have you thought about hiring an engine hoist from somewhere, most tool hire places would hire you one for a day for peanuts and it will make your life so much easier, I'd be surprised if it cost more than £20 or so for the day.

 

While I'm writing, I thought I'd chuck in a last couple of pictures of my teapot now it's finished. I'm so pleased with it I actually gave it a decent wash and brush-up, something that doesn't happen often. Looks pretty good I think, not bad at all for a 19 year old teapot with 79,000 miles on it which has been living outside in the rain for at least the last four years! I think these are probably the best standard colours of all the GSXFs, most of then look bloody awful (actually I quite like the silver 750s too). The wheels were originally black but I re-painted them red which I think looks much better. You'd never guess there was a monster lurking under all that standard plastic, proper sleeper! Cannot wait for dry roads and power ranger tossers next summer, mid-Wales will be alive to the cries of "what the fuck was that!".

 

 

 

[teltwosheds]

Tidy . I must admit I put my frame over the engine with no suspension or lower cradle fitted. I then tilted it forward to get the stand down,fitted the rear end then tipped it back and fitted the rest one 600 teapot sorted on my own  ps it does help with the shed floor being earth covered with old chipboard and bits of carpet lol

[Motovalet]

Well, I'm on my own when it comes to fitting my engine back in the frame and ideally I hadn't planned on having to unbolt the front end and the rear swinging arm etc. I was hoping to put the motor on blocks and maybe remove the front wheel and secure the bike to a joist via a tie down so the forks were a decent height off of the ground and then kind of lift the front up pivoting the bike on the back wheel up and over the engine, not sure it'll be that simple now though tbh! Be so much easier if there weren't those bloody great big side frame spars. I once put an old EFE motor back in the frame by simply lying the motor on its side and putting the frame over it, nice and simple! Your finished sleeper looks brilliant though and if you ever get up to the Ponderosa Cafe, Horseshoe Pass in wales or to Lynn's Raven Cafe at Prees I'll look out for you :-)

[Dr Jon]

Fitting it on your own with no hoist! That is not going to be much fun, you'll have to put a bit of effort into propping the engine securely. It's a bit of an awkward shape, the drain plug is very prominent which makes it difficult. You really need to look into hiring a hoist, there must be a tool hire place near you somewhere? If not then i think you will definitely need to strip it down to the bare frame so you can lift it over on your own and line it up properly,even then won't be easy. Reckon it would be very tricky with the back end still. How far away from mid-Wales are you? Maybe we could come give you a hand? 

[Motovalet]

I'm in Gloucestershire so a fair way from mid Wales, but thanks for the offer :-) A couple of people have said it is easier to bolt it to the lower cradle first and then jack it up and bolt it in? Sounds easy but your dead right with that sump plug smack bang where you'd want the jack to be will make it a proper ball ache! It's not going back in the frame until I've checked the motor over, cleaned it up and painted it so I've got a few more weeks to figure out the best way forward.

[Nick_C_Hotrods]

Hi Good to see you on here, you bought the Powerscreen off me I think

Cheers

Nick

[Dr Jon]

Hi Nick, that's you up in the Wirral then? Yeh the motor worked out pretty well as you can see from the above. Goes like fk but perfectly civilised at lower speeds, exactly what I was after and the bike's handling it no probs. I'm still a little wary of putting that much power through the 600 crappy steel swinging arm, never liked the chain adjusters on them anyway so will probably change it to something else in the near future, 1100F if it fits or 1200 bandit which I'm pretty sure would go straight in. Fair play you can see the mileage in the motor, I think the 80k miles on the 1100F is about right but even so this is a seriously tough motor and is running beautifully, a lot quieter than the 600 motor that just came out after a similar number of miles.  All in all, I'm well chuffed, especially now I've fixed the carb leak and the mpg is looking loads better, there was also loose diaphragm in one of the carbs, the plastic rivets that hold the diaphragm to the slide were loose on one carb which would have been a massive air leak and rough running last time it was used but this was easy to spot. I've just sealed it up with araldite for now which seem to be holding it together with an airtight seal so all good for now. Definitely some 750F 38mm carbs on the wish list. As I say, I'll give it a freshen up sometime later. I'm quite happy to spend a few hundred quid on this motor now I know it's all pretty sound, it'll go another 80k miles again easily. But will have to wait for later this year when I've got some cash but as it is for my £250 half of the price and my old 600 engine I've got a serious upgrade. Owen's pretty chuffed with his £250s worth too, got the rest of the rolling chassis and my old engine and carbs to build his streetfighter. He'll be making a start in a few week's time so we'll probably post some pics as he goes along. 

 

 

Motovalet, I know Gloucestershire fairly well, I lived and worked in Tewksbury for a while back at the end of the 80s. We're not so far away, we're in Builth Wells so if you do want a hand in a few weeks' time to get the motor in drop me a PM. Especially if the weather's good, make a nice excuse for a ride out on the bikes.

[Motovalet]

21 hours ago, Dr Jon said:

Motovalet, I know Gloucestershire fairly well, I lived and worked in Tewksbury for a while back at the end of the 80s. We're not so far away, we're in Builth Wells so if you do want a hand in a few weeks' time to get the motor in drop me a PM. Especially if the weather's good, make a nice excuse for a ride out on the bikes.

I'm near Northleach, just off the A40 (Chelt to Oxford).  More than happy to take you up your offer of help when the weather picks up, you wouldn't want to be riding down the shitty muddy track that leads to my place at the moment, you'd need a crosser or a 4x4!! I removed the sump today  and it's all nice and clean in there, the oil strainer/filter mesh thing was clean as were the oil feed pick ups, the thing I'm too happy about is that when you look up the exhaust ports the stems of the valve guides are real cruddy, I blasted them with carb cleaner and did the same on the carb inlet ports as well as the stems were a bit mucky here as well. I also poured a little oil down the bores through the spark plug holes and turned it over with a socket on the end of the crank all seems fine and I'm going to stick with your advice for now i.e check the valve gaps, fresh oil, filter and plugs and then pop it that frame  (that's where you may come in helpful!) what I need to do next is strip and rebuild the 36mm carbs I picked up and find a cheap exhaust system. I've got a set of headers that are four into two into one but there's a crack at the collector that needs welding and I'll still need a link pipe and an end can, money's a bit tight at the moment and not set to improve much until this bloody rain stops and there's a little more work about! One other quick question, do you reckon it's be ok to re-use the cam cover rubber gasket or get a new one??

[Dr Jon]

Yeh, you can definitely re-use the cam cover gasket, just be a careful when you take it off that it's not stuck to both sides and ease the half-moon seals on the ends of the camcover out carefully. Be a lot easier with the engine out anyway to make sure it comes off cleanly. Make sure the rubber is nicely in the groove in the camcover all round when you put it back on and it'll be fine. Be careful not to overtighten the cam cover bolts when you put them back in, they've got a shoulder which sets the limit to how far they go in and you don't want to overtighten against this or you'll strip the threads. Apart from that it's all a doddle. When you do the carbs pay attention to how well the diaphragms are joined to the slides, an air-leak here will make it run really out of balance and rough, quickest way to check is lift the slides up with your finger when the carbs are off and note how long it takes to come back down, any noticeable differences here will suggest a leak in a diaphragm somewhere, the slides should shut nice and crisply but not snap shut too hard, the main thing to look for are differences between carbs.

Give us a shout if the weather forecast is good and you want a hand to chuck the motor in, we'll come over for a spin. It's only a 10 or 15 minute job to get the engine onto its two rear bolts if you've got some help. We're both working over in Germany for the last week of Jan but any time after that. Might be a long time before this bastard rain pisses off though. 

[Motovalet]

Well after careful use of a trolley jack, a large rolled up duvet, several axle stands and much swearing I managed to fit my GSXR750L motor into my 600 teapot all by myself! I was properly chuffed until I realised I had not fitted the clutch actuator to the splined output shaft which is very tight fit and close to the frame rail! There was no obvious way to just put on as you would if this motor was in the correct GSXR frame without dropping the motor a fraction? I decided to remove the clutch cover (a nightmare in itself as this also fouls the frame where the cable adjuster mount fits) which allowed me to slip the actuator lever onto the splined shaft. The cable adjuster virtually touches the inside of the frame so adjustment is virtually non existent. Anyway, I put it all back together and the actuator lever moved outwards as I fitted the clutch cover and now there's not enough "throw" to pull the lever! I'm going to have to drop the motor in the frame and reposition the lever to allow it to operate but I'm not sure how it sits in relation to the adjuster, or if it will even work without being able to wind out the adjuster? All in all it's turning into a right nightmare! The 750L motor is not the best choice for this transplant and I'd have been better off with a motor where the clutch operates on the other side via a pushrod like on the original teapot motor. I hope I can sort it otherwise the project will grind to a halt! I can't find any reference on here or the internet as to how the actuator lever sits in relation the the cable mount on top of the crankcase/clutch cover? Mine has the dimple in the middle of the clutch cover as on the 750J slingshot motor, not an easy swap :-(

Edited February 21, 2016 by Motovalet
typo

[Captain Chaos]

1 hour ago, Motovalet said:

 how the actuator lever sits in relation the the cable mount on top of the crankcase/clutch cover

this pic of my 750L might help

[VJ]

On 29/12/2015 at 7:25 PM, Dr Jon said:

 only real conflict is the tank middle support, the removable frame cross member. This does not even come close to fitting and will need to be modified. I've just left it off for now but will get to it soon enough.

 

 

I wouldnt bother, I left mine off on my b12 engined 6 teapot and it made no noticable difference, I doubt it strengthens the frame at all as it wasnt dowled and the tank needed to go up half an inch at the back for me anyways for the petcock to clear the carb tops.

 

Cheers

VJ

[Motovalet]

12 hours ago, captain chaos said:

how the actuator lever sits in relation the the cable mount on top of the crankcase/clutch cover

Well that's how mine looked but it did nothing? I think I need to take it off completely and position it at 12 o'clock (as per pic) and then when it's connected to the cable and under tension, hopefully it'll work! :-)    

[Dr Jon]

Hi Motovalet, great to hear you managed to get the moto in by yourself, bet that wasn't much fun. Sorry to hear of the clutch woes. Hadn't realised that model GSXR was so different to the teapot or 1100 motors. It sounds like you might possibly have misaligned the actuator shaft as you replaced the clutch cover, the splines on the shaft as they sit in the cover itself have to line up properly with the operating rack in the clutch basket. Normally you would get this lined up as you refit the cover then after that fit the arm at the correct angle. I can see that because you have to fit the arm with the cover off you could easily end up with the wrong relationship between them. I think you will either have to just keep buggering around until you get it right or undo the front engine mounts and tip the moto forward enough to give yourself clearance to fit the cover properly and then fit the arm. Bit of a pain either way! Good luck, stick at it you'll get there in the end.

You also mention that you have practically no room for adjustment at the bottom end of the cable because the adjuster is hitting the frame. Depends which way you need to adjust but you can gain adjustment by added spacers at the clutch lever end, i.e. if you need to take up some slack you can just put a longer adjuster into the lever mount. If you need more slack than you can unwind some of the cable outer to give more inner slack. Hopefully you can adjust things near enough like this and get the fine adjustment right with the level adjustment.

[Dr Jon]

Hi VJ, no I still haven't got round to modifying the cross brace at the back of the tank. I think you're right that it doesn't need it for frame support but there is quite a lot of stress put through the bottom of the tank when it's full of petrol. Luckily the monster motor means that it's never full of petrol for long anyway!

While I'm writing, I might just take the opportunity to tell the readers, my shabby old teapot now does 110 mph in second gear before hitting the rev limiter. Hahahah, fukinhell, I really need some better brakes!

Easy 135mph without hitting the limiter in 3rd. I'm still just short shifting from there up to top so have no idea what the top speed would be, I'm a bit scared to push it much beyond 145ish. Definitely not properly stable when shutting back down from there, I need to go back to the original low screen, the touring screen is flexing badly at that speed and I need to fix some of my fairing mounts which is not helping. I'm not going to win any races round the bends but by fuck it's quick in a straight line, roll on summer and the German Autobahns. 

[Motovalet]

Sorted the clutch actuator, removed a few engine mounts, dropped the motor, repositioned it and job done! Biggest problem is that in my over keen desire to sort it I over tightened three clutch cover bolts and stripped the threads! They're at the top and I hold my hands up and confess I bodged it by using soldering iron cut and shoved in the stripped out holes and thread lock on the bolts, they all nipped up and there was plenty of torque, so I'm leaving them until I can be bothered to helicoil them and fix them properly! The next issue I've encountered is the 750 oil cooler is taller than the outgoing 600F one and I can't make use of the original oil cooler bottom frame mounted brackets for additional support. Short term, two large cable ties will have to suffice until I can come up with a permanent solution. I'm concerned also that the bottom of the cooler may foul the headers? The next big hurdle is getting the carbs into the rubbers, blimey they're tight! It looks also like the 600F throttle cable and choke cable doesn't want to play with the 36mm carbs I have for the motor? priority now is getting the thing running as to date I've still no idea whether it actually runs! It all turns over freely and the oil was clean and apart from gapping the valves I'm on a wing and a prayer! :-)

[Dr Jon]

 Great to hear you got the clutch working, bugger about the threads though. At least they're at the top so hopefully they'll stay oil tight enough to let you run  the motor up and get an idea of how good it is.I reckon you'll be ok with the cooler, I managed to make the 1100f one fit on mine and that's loads bigger than the 600 one. You have to take care with the angle it comes down at, though too close to the engine and it will be close to the headers but too far away and it will be too close to the front mudguard under fork compression, it needs to be just right. I made up some little extending brackets which the original cooler mounts bolt on to and hold the cooler out at just the right angle at the bottom and  just used some spacers and longer bolts at the top mounts to move the cooler forward about half an inch or so at the top. My fittings aren't brilliant to be honest but they work, I might get round to improving them one day. I'm away from home at the moment but could post some better pictures of them sometime over the weekend if that might be useful. Are you sure the carbs and rubbers match in size, they can be very tight anyway but just be sure you're not trying to cram 36mm carbs into 34mm rubbers. Just measure across the faces with a ruler. If they should fit then try warming the rubbers up with a hairdryer until they soften, they're always pretty tight even when they're the right size but should go in easy enough if you warm them up a bit. Stick with it, you're getting there.

[Motovalet]

Bit of an update, carbs are now in the inlet rubbers and everything is connected and good to go, however I have "suck", "squeeze" and "blow" but no bang! There's a good spark at the plugs and if I put my hand over each open carb when cranking it over I can feel good suction, likewise hand over the exhaust also has pressure. When I whip any of the plugs out they still look very clean and almost dry but you can smell engine oil but not petrol. I've stripped the carbs and there's no blockage in the mains or the pilots and the floats are all level and appear to work when you blow through the fuel hose whilst tipping the carbs you can feel them sealing. I bought this engine with no history of it running and took a chance, I'm now wondering if maybe the valves are furbar? Just because I can feel pressure at the carb mouths and the exhaust doesn't guarantee good strong pressure in the cylinders right? I'm hoping it's something really simple and to do with the carbs but  I'm not 100% to be honest?  I'm using a remote fuel cannister hooked up to the carbs rather than the tank and wondered if that had any bearing on it as there would be no vacuum. The carbs are Mikuni BS36SS and I could also do with a schematic on how the fuel line connects. Currently I have a "Y" splitter and two hoses going to the inlet spigots between the float bowls and I'm assuming the two other spigots at the top of the carbs are breathers? Advise greatly appreciated otherwise the old 600 lump is going back in or I'm bailing and selling it on! :-)

[Captain Chaos]

are the sparks at the correct time? Coils wiring 1+4 and 2+3 mixed up?

[Motovalet]

Coils are all wired correct, sitting on the bike the left coil HT leads go to 1 and 4 and the left to 2 and three, spark at all four plugs when pulled from cylinder but plugs feel dry. Squirted a syringe of petrol into each carb intake whilst moving the slides with my finger and twisting the throttle. When I tried to start it, nothing but a massive flame shot out of the exhaust! I'm hoping the carbs are the problem but not sure why they'd not suck in fuel unless the valves are goosed? Wondered about ignition timing but not 100% on how you check it on a 750L motor?? Back up plan I'm thinking is use the old 600F motor and maybe use the BS36SS carbs and inlet rubbers and maybe the cams from the 750L, might have a bit more oomph??

[Motovalet]

Well, checked cam timing, valve gaps still no go :-( Put fuel directly into cylinders through plug hole and just got a dirty great big flame out of the exhaust! If I put my hand across each carb inlet I get good suction and my hand gets with fuel via the pilot holes but plugs still seem dry when I pull them from the head? Could it be blocked starter jet/choke or maybe float issues, nothing glaringly obvious showed when I stripped the carbs though and all float levels seemed ok and float valve seems to shut off when I blow through the fuel line. Am I right in thinking that if the valves were totally goosed or burnt then I'd get no suction or exhaust blow? Miffed having got thisfar with the project only to find the motor might be a dud :-(

[Dr Jon]

Hi motovalet, If it's backfiring through the exhaust your ignition timing is wrong one way or another, nothing to do with the moto. Try swapping low tension wires around on your coils. Leave the orange ones as they are (these are common power feeds), just swap the other two and see what happens. It sounds very much like ignition timing, (definitely nothing to do with your valves or cam timing!). These engines can be buggers to start from dry float bowls at the best of times, they need to get going on a couple of cylcinders to start pulling petrol through which is probably why your plugs are coming out dry. Try swapping those LT leads first and see what happens, if not you need to start looking at ECU and trigger wiring and make sure the static timing is set up properly.

Don't put fuel directly down the plug holes, that is a recipe for a bent conrod, this is not a 125 two stroke from the seventies :-). Just get the moto spinning with the choke off and spray some WD40 or easy start into the airbox. (and that's only as a last resort, this is not good practice!!). Make sure your battery is really well charged, spinning for a long time will pull the power away from the coils to the starter motor. Spin her over with some jump leads from a car battery to help if you think the battery is getting a bit tired.