When checking the ignition timing

Morning...
Get yerself a coffee on me..

Is it really necessary to use the HD timing mark view plug, or can I just
run it with the timing inspection hole uncovered?

You can buy a plastic plug for the hole but it gets messed up and hard to
see the line.

I never set my timing with a light on my bike. On a good hot day after a
good long ride and you've listened to it ping, put the front tire up against
your garage door and back off the timing until it stops. The engine is under
a load that way and it will never be a issue again. I'm running 10:1 pistons
with 89 octane and I lug down with no ping two up pulling my trailer.

It can be done, but it's a PITA and quite messy...

A little history:
I had a bunch of bad stuff happen all around the same time. On a downshift
into fourth heading for WOT, I hit false neutral and spun the motor all the
way up to the SE ignion rev limit of 6000.

(I've had a bit of a problem with that particular shift both up and down,
and it needs to be addressed.)

Not long after that it started missing and it took me a while to figure out
that a wire had come loose on the coil. Not long after _that_, she started
leaking oil all over the place from under the lower rear rocker cover (I'm
now thinking that hitting 6000 was just more than that paper gasket could
handle).

I tamed down my riding style for a few weeks as I resolved the issues, but
I've now got a detonation problem. I replaced the rocker cover gaskets (with
steel) and I've been doing some homework, reading up on the difference
between detonation and pre-ignition. I understand that there are a couple
of possible sources of detonation.

Lean air/fuel (heat)
Carbon deposits (compression)
Ignition timing

I posted a pic of one of my front plug across the street under the subject
_How's she running_. Got one reply to say it's running right.

So I'm wondering if carbon build-up is a possibility give that I was running
the engine around at 2000 rpm for a while as I mentioned above. I've also
read that there's a product out there that you spray into the carb with the
motor running, then shut it down and let it sit overnight to break-up any
carbon, then blow it out the exhaust in the morning when you fire it up.

I'm hoping it's just the timing has wandered off a bit, or somehow got loose
in the high rev mis-shift. Manual says to check the timing at 5000 mile
intervals, and well, I've gone at least 50% past that without checking, so I
figure it's the first thing I need to do.

And of course, I've already tried getting my high octane fuel from a few
different sources to eliminate the simplest solution of bad fuel. No such
luck.

-Steve P.

Back in the day, oh, 1973, when i wrenched at Guy Leaming's Salem
County Harley dealership in South Jersey, S.O.P. was to wrap the

You still in the area?

timing light in a clear plastic bag and let 'er rip with the timing
plug removed, right there on the lift. The clear plastic plugs were
available then, but the powers that be decided they weren't clear enuf
for an accurate reading.
Surprisingly, it wasn't terribly messy. A little oil sprays out, but
not enuf to be much problem to wipe up, and you do get a good, clear
view of the timing marks, and oil mist on your safety glasses. You are
wearing safety glasses, aren't you?