just wondering if this looks right, when the cams are lined up the line and T on the crank are to the left of the sight, when i line up the T on the crank, the cam timing is not quiet level with the top of the engine. see pics

crank T in sight



cams level with engine top

 

by marks alone I'd say the cams are off a tooth. but I have yet to have to adjust my valves. so I havent had to mess with my timing or even align the marks. I wonder if you put a compression gauge on the bike and kicked it over a few times, if that would tell you if the marks are truely off. low compression would point to those cams being off. BUT I am not in the know on this topic. so I shall see what the other klx'rs who've had this motor apart before, have to say.
I better not get in trouble for posting these pics

 

Nice arrow
I agree with clgdswr. It looks like both your cams are off one tooth. the T should be on the mark and the IN and EX marks on the cams should be level and even with the top of the head.
Dan

 

your valve cover gasket is kinda in the way but yeah... looks like your cams are a bit off as the other guys have said.

On my bike the intake cam had a slight tilt toward the back of the bike as in the second pic that clgdswr posted but the exhaust cam was almost dead even FWIW.

 

maybe your chain is stretched past spec.

 

could be, but i just reset the cams and it started 3 times in a row 1st kick everytime.. think it was off

 

Glad you got it figured out.
It did look like the timing was off a click.
I'm also hoping to send my exhaust cam off to Brewster.
Did you take a look at the Idler Gear? Common issue with this bike.
Other than the Idler Gear and the ACR that's about it.
If it's starting 1st. kick you obviously figured out the "routine".
Enjoy your new machine.
Rob

 

Remember it is a 4 cycle engine, 2 rotations of the crank per cycle. You may have been on the exhaust stroke not the compression stroke. Which would have been one rotation of the crank off. Check the lift of the valves, they should be both be closed on the approach to TDC to be on the right cycle.

 

That could also be it. My bike has 14,000km and I noticed that to get the cam sprockets lined up, my "T" symbol on the flywheel is almost 1/8" ahead of where it should be.

All the slack for the chain is taken up on one side, so as it wears it has to go off slightly. As the chain gets longer, the crank has to turn a couple degrees further to get the cam where it should be.

 

have you pulled the CCT when retiming the engine? remember the CCT also needs to be 'reset' when reinstalling. if you didnt remove your CCT before you timed it, the reason the 'T' is not lined up is because the pluger on the CCT is extended all the way and putting WAY to much pressure on the chain.