Motorcycle Repair: Shovelhead Piston Binding, stock pistons, taking a chance

Question
Pistons have not been replaced.  Flywheel is stock.  There is not any play in the rods.  These are all stock with exception to the pistons which may have been replaced in the last rebuild.  They are stamped .030.  The pistons don't bind up so bad the engine can't be turned over, it just seems it is a little stiffer through the bottom of the stroke and into the up stroke.  Pistons clear the flywheel and are not bottoming out. Flywheel turned freely with the cylinders off.  Bottom end was not rebuilt.  Bikes odometer is showing a little less than 20,000 mi.
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Followup To
Question -
I'm currently rebuilding a 80 inch Harley Shovelhead out of an 1983 FLT.  I recently reassembled the cylinders to the the cases.  When I turn the engine over with a wrench it feels a though there is more resistance at the bottom of the stroke.  Is this normal?  Should the engine get slightly harder to turn over through the bottom of the stroke?  The cam and head have not been installed.  The cylinders and rings did not appear to have any wear and were reused as is, but cylinders were surface honed.  The engine only had a few hundred mile on it since it's last rebuild but was parked and sat for 12 years.
Answer -
First, are the new pistons the same as the old ones? If you had stroker flywheels the stock pistons will bump the flywheels. You should not get any bind when turning the motor over by hand. Also, did you check the rods? There should be no up and down play in them at all.
If you honed the cylinders you should replace the rings. They have might have set in already when the motor was redone. You are taking a chance of the motor smoking. Rings dont cost a lot and you dont want to have to tear it back down cause of smoking.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike

Answer
Sorry, I missed the part about using the old pistons. As long as the rods are ok and you are using the same pistons you should be ok. Probably what is happening is you are getting at the bottom of the stroke, where the crankpin is all the way bottomed, and the pistons are bottomed it will feel a little harder to turn. Once you get the crankpin past that point it turns easier.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike