Cheers Mark! And thanks for all the help, really appreciate it. I wanted to push the little man a bit further but it may well be time for a good old clean up

Some interesting discoveries up ahead and I would be so grateful for your feedback. Some years back I had an RDLC125 timed with a strobe, ran like a prince and never missed a beat, I flogged it to death and sold it to a 'youngun' who probably did the same. I did a 3,000km summer trip on it one summer - screamed all the way and left my hands and feet 'tinglling' for quite a while, lol
anyway to the current state of affairs

Mickey mouse ears!

OOf, I think this is going to be sloooow progress. My head is not as clear as in younger days. With the help of AI, quantum mechanics and a super computer I was able to design this portable timing device

Then we were able to 'check' the timing at 1.8mm before TDC. Does this all look good to you?
Black mark is TDC, blue mark is 1.8mm before TDC using hi-tech portable timing device

current state of affairs

Reset timing on mine recently. Found I was 1.89 mm BTDC vs 1.8mm and honestly made the bike run a lot better.

BTW, love the timing tool you created.

PABT thanks. In the future would be good to get a 14mm spark plug adapted dial guage, on the wishlist for now. I found that the OEM (semi rubberised) gasket had pockets that had filled with very fine sand, I wonder if this sand was able to migrate into the engine?