Reflecting on everyone's comments regarding re-sleeving the original cylinders or plating, I have decided that a wet sleeve with a top flange supported by the existing outer water jacket is my goal. Basically an open deck to closed deck conversion.
Although ductile iron is apparently preferred for wet sleeves because of its shock load capacity, is grey cast iron acceptable provides the wall thickness is sufficient, perhaps a much as 10mm. I may be able to source grey cast iron sleeves at a good price.
Piston choice raises another issue, for which I would be interested in your opinions. My preference is to use a piston from another model of motorcycle that is the same style as those fitted now, i.e. 4 valve pent top. Again for cost reasons, I am trying to avoid custom made pistons.
However, the piston of choice uses a 15mm piston pin and the OEM rods are 14mm. Is resizing to 15mm considered a safe option. Max rpm for the OEM engine is 14,000 but in real life I would not exceed 12,000 worst case and 10,000 would be the nominal maximum. This model of bike, when raced, would normally only be run between 10,000 and 14,000 rpm.