KX Guru Racing

I have a KX500 snowbike that had an issue last winter where it would seem to get stuck in low RPMs. There would be a certain point in the rev range that the engine would be unable to accelerate past, even under WOT. It would kind of burble and to get past that point I would have to downshift, accelerate a little, upshift and I would be past the point and the bike could then accelerate. Now it wasn't until all the snow had melted that I made the connection that the KIPS was RPM based, as was my problem. I took the cylinder off and found that one of the pillar valves was out by one gear tooth.

The left one is rotated too much counterclockwise


Now I'm wondering if that small misalignment could have caused such a dramatic effect? It could be tuning, which I'm looking at, but it's more difficult to jet a bike with a track than you might think cause the drag steals all the responsiveness from the engine (also outside temps aren't the same right now). I checked the mechanism with the plastic gear that moves the little arm and it's all good.

If any of you have put these together misaligned and know what the effect is and can let me know
thanks

Sorry, I missed this post...
After I assemble mine I like to look through the main exhaust port and then actuate the governor rod.
Watch the kips drums.
They should open evenly and fully.
When you move the rod back they should close off the ports.
IF they do, then you have a different issue.

Having a misaligned valve set up can make you loose a lot of top end... But it will be the same power lose in every gear... and at the same rpm..