Hi, Just bought a 73 Sportster that has been in storage for 15 years. The issue I have is the rear intake valve was just kissing the piston and not letting me turn it over. Took the heads off and could see that it was hitting. Also pulled the side cover off to see if cams were timed correctly, but they fell out so could not tell. Motor now rotates nicely and cylinders are good.
So the question is, what are the reasons that come to mind as to why it was hitting. Valves are not stuck. rockers are good as well, Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

My thought is that, as you suspected, the cams were not set right - especially since it now rotates nicely. I have no other thoughts on it for now.

 

Thats what it was. PO set them wrong and when it did not work right he put it away for 15 years, then I bought it.

 

Hi, Besides the cam being out of sync, the rear piston was also installed with the notch facing the exhaust valve. I am slowly learning the details of the motor by trial and error.