So good.

It's done, it's ready:

I was able to put everything else back on the bike in a few hours, then I went over everything I had just done, double checked all the fasteners and primed the head with this oiler, courtesy of Witold - thank you!

After that, I put the rocker spindle covers back on, but I didn't have gaskets for them (I must stock up asap), so Gianluca came to the rescue with some gasket paper. Some nail scissors or exacto knife do the trick:

Thanks Gianluca!

Below you can see the carburetters, "only" took ten minutes to tighten the inner manifolds bolts this time. You can also just make out the wonderful K&N air filter.

And it looks like that's everything now:

With the engine oil drained, refilled and topped up, main fuse in, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. Petrol on, carbs tickled, ignition. The first two kicks deliver absolutely nothing, and I already start to wonder how long this is going to take. Then on the third, the engine fires up, first on one cylinder, then immediately the second one comes online and the whole powerplant settles into a pitch-perfect droning note, guttural yet effortless at the same time. Needless to say I had to go for a test ride, it was a good one.

Brian, you hypothesized that after the head refurbishment the exhaust would have a real crack in it, well, you were right: che musica!