I tried different locations for the shifter. But it's a small buggy and I'm a big guy. My leg gets in the way. I had my wife (1/2 my size) sit in the drivers seat and test this location. For her and most people it will just be starting in first and then hanging onto the steering wheel. But it's still comfortable for me. We'll see how it feels once it's rolling. I may rearrange things with a better shifter. For now it's a check mark on a long list.
The best part of all this is that my wife actually cares how it works and can't wait to roll drive it..
It had some rust in a couple of the intake ports. Of course those cylinders are strong and don't smoke. Since the headers are still individual I can see easily which ones are hotter than the others and which are smoking. Hoping it will 'go away', but I think I'll check on some GSXR forums to see how to do a quick ring and valve lap on the engine.