Motorcycle Repair: timing, honda design, mini trails

Question
QUESTION: Hey rich, I have a honda design engine bore 7 stroke = 125cc. I recently had to disassemble the engine because a screw fell into the intake and got crushed by the piston. no damage thank goodness. I have to set the timing back. I have set the piston to what I think is TDC. aligned timing mark on flywheel to mark on crank cover. then I set the cam gear with the "o" set to 9 oclock. I have great compression, but still cant get the darn thing to fire. I think the timing is off. was I wrong in my timing settings??? please help.

ANSWER: Nick if you tell me the year and model, I'm sure I can talk you through it.

Regards
Rich



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey rich, its a new 2007 honda knock off engine. its the same as the 4 stroke 50cc's that honda used to use in the mini trails, except this one is 125cc. I found a slightly bent intake valve today and replaced both valves, set tdc and voila! it fired. problem is it runs like crap! it idles well and accelerates well while idling, but as soon as its out under load (into gear) it feels like its bogging down and will barely move. carb has been cleaned and there is a new plug with great spark and correct gap installed. Im thinking I might be a tooth or 2 off on my timing. on my engine, TDC mark looks like a O- just with the "O" on top. like a balloon on a string. theres 4 of those puppies on the flywheel. I set TDC where the piston was at the very top of the stroke. was I right??? or wrong?? please help. THANKS!

Answer
Yes, the timing is always set at top dead center.  Normally, on the Honda there were two little tabs cast into the cylinderhead under the cam cover.  The O was lined up between those two tabs.  I can't recall right now if those were at 12 o'clock or at 6 o'clock relative the crank. If you were more than a tooth off the engine probably wouldn't run at all. There will be a notch or some reference mark on the cylinder head to aline the O to when the crank is on TDC.

Good luck
Rich