Hi all. I had a rebuild done on my head after I cooked it a couple years ago. I put in the Hot Cams and had the journals re-machined. I had trouble cold starting it last spring and ended up having to re-shim the intake valves, as the lash had closed to zero. This spring I'm having trouble cold starting again, though not quite as bad. The bike was running and starting really well each fall before I put it away for the winter.

I haven't checked the lash yet this spring, but I'm just curious to know if this is a common phenomenon after a rebuild of the head. Do the valves/cams tend to "set" or somehow dimensionally change with the extreme cold of the winter? The bike was stored outside both winters, but wasn't started or anything in the cold. I checked with the guy who did the head work and he told me this is often a sign of dirt getting past the intake valves and accelerating wear; has anyone else experienced this? TIA.