Batman, thanks for the advice. Will check the valves at 5000 miles.

I had a tight timing cover for my first service, although the bike only had 500 miles on it it was a year old. I tried to make all sorts of tools including using the metal plate that the tank slides under which is not strong enough. I was searching the hardware store for some sort of brass hinge that was thick enough to completely fill the slot, but I had no luck, in the end I took it to the local bike shop who did it for me, they left a little scratch and admitted it was very difficult but just brute forced it. The problem is that even if you get a good bit of metal to sit snugly in the slot, that you need to keep it pressed into the slot while turning with some sort of flat clamp money wrench that can hold the entire hinge securely. If it you are finding it hard to take off, then I'd go straight to the making a tool to fit, solution.