well, after removing the clutch cover a couple of times and looking a little closer at the clymers manual, i had something in wrong.  the oil pump drive gear on the back of clutch hub was on backwards, i think thats why it was hard to crank by hand. after setting up my laptop where my bike was (clymers is on cd) i was able to look, read and put it together instead of going from one room to the other relying on memory. (very short memory)  
now for the but part.
the bike does not want to go into gear while it is running. it gives a grinding noise like the clutch is not all the way pulled in.
what i have done: took clutch plates out and cleaned them following the thread by Oldfeller. i did this because my clutch arm didnt fall between the two marks on the side of the motor. now it does. i have tried adjusting the clutch and no luck. i have looked to see if shifter linkage was bent. looked straight to me from what i could tell.
clutch cable maybe?
sorry this thing reads like a novel. trying to give all the info i can in one shot.

no creeping or lurching. will look more into the linkage

As far a Im concerned, if it pulls me along while Im holdin the clutch in,, thats creepy..

It seems I have clutch when I start it in gear, it just won't go into gear when coming from neutral.

I think I tried that, but will try again in case I didn't.