Well, there never was any pin or E-ring to connect the solenoid! So the "tink" I heard was just the solenoid falling off it's perch on the frame. I didn't have to tear off the head cover. Oh well, I learned how to do it pretty well.
With a temporary cotter pin installed in the place of the normal pin, I started the bike. WOW! Now I know how the bike starts without a solenoid
and [i]with[/i]! So much easier!
Now I'm worried about the decompression solenoid being disconnected on purpose for some reason.
Next job: making sure the solenoid is adjusted correctly and not holding open an exhaust valve, which would be bad for cooling the valve, and compression.
I didn't think of this until I had run it around the block, 4 miles.
But, for right now, I gotta farm. I bought another 10 hours of fuel (12 gallons) for the ol' Japanese John Deere, and need to clip several acres of pasture after the cows have grazed, which is really working to get the weeds out, and the pasture grasses I want established.