Removing the cylinder head: Should I leave the oil in, or drain it?

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

Please don't do this Zombie, you're struggling enough as it is. If you take this step you may very well kill this machine.
You need local assistance - TheGSR forum can only do so much. Please look for local help....

I know, this is all stuff I've never done before, and I'm worried I'll mess up something. Before, I had scarcely touched a motorcycle, let alone worked on one. All of this has been a learning experience to me.
Working with the guts of an engine is magnitudes greater than undoing a screw. However, I don't have the money to pay a proper mechanic (being unemployed and no one will hire me), and I've made several posts on Nextdoor, asking for any shadetree mechanics nearby, but no such luck. Disability payments are all I get, since I was disbarred from donating plasma due to an autistic reaction I had with a smell. I can only do so much on a limited income, which is why this has taken so long.

So I'm either stuck doing this myself, or I might as well hang up my helmet and stick to an electric bicycle.

[allojohn]

There is no way that this is going to turn out well. Just saying.

Please don't do this Zombie, you're struggling enough as it is. If you take this step you may very well kill this machine.
You need local assistance - TheGSR forum can only do so much. Please look for local help....

[TeamDar]

There is no way that this is going to turn out well. Just saying.

[bwringer]

There's plenty of residual oil, so you don't need to worry about oil supply when turning the engine to set timing. You can drain the oil in the pan or leave it; it doesn't really matter.

That said, when you reassemble the engine, you do need to lubricate the bores; just smear some engine oil on with your fingers. And you also need to lubricate the cam journals with engine oil when you install the cams. This is all described clearly in the manuals.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

if you are taking the head off, you should take the barrels off as well and replace the base gasket and O rings, otherwise it WILL leak after you reassemble it all, then you will have to pull it all off again.

The base gasket being the gasket between the cylinder head and the area where the pistons live?
The barrels go around the pistons, right? If so, I've heard them referred to as piston sleeves.

[Agemax]

if you are taking the head off, you should take the barrels off as well and replace the base gasket and O rings, otherwise it WILL leak after you reassemble it all, then you will have to pull it all off again.

[Who Dat?]

Based on what I have read in your last few threads, this is going to be a fun thread.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

I ask because if I'm going to remove the cylinder head, I might as well clean the tops of the pistons, right?
I imagine if I tried to turn it without some form of lubrication to bring each to the top, bad things will happen... or would it be safe, since it wouldn't generate heat like a running engine when turned by hand?