The resistance was extreme on the cam followers and were seized when I found the barrels.
The history of the bike is its ex an South African Police bike, either Lesutu or Swaziland and it came to Kenya dismantled and in boxes. Part were separated and some were stolen. Most of the larger chunks were together and dry stored. Some of the smaller, frustrating less common parts, went to various locations around Kenya. It took almost 2 years to trace were all the parts went and to find what was remaining. The barrels were caked in cow shit which in a strange way, once it was dry seems to have protected more than it damaged. The cam followers were solid and were removed, cleaned before refitting and I know they are moving freely now.
I'm going to fill the bottom end up with oil and let it soak for a few days as a precaution. As I said, I don't have anything to reference the resistance against and it could be fine and normal and I'm imagining its tight when its not.
Its all a learning curve at the moment!
Guy