Gearshift lever alignment

Before assembling the cylinders and heads I took some time to make sure the gears engage correctly. For that the gear shift lever/fork needs to be in place. Ducati Workshop Manual mentions a special tool for the alignment and of course I didn't have one. But I don't see why it would be necessary since the only thing it does is 1) lock the gear selector drum in place and 2) shows the mid line of two drum rollers. The gearbox should be on second gear when it's aligned so if I had been wise enough and figured it out before closing the cases I would have marked the mid line of those two drum rollers with a marker. In fact this could have been done on the factory so the tool wouldn't be needed. When the bike is on the second gear, the drum won't move by itself. And all you need to do is to align the mid line of the two drum rollers and the line on the gear shift lever fork. The goal is to obtain approximately the same amount of movement to both upshift and downshift and then tighten the bolts. It's hard to get accurate feeling without using the actual shifter with your foot, but luckily this is fairly simple to adjust afterwards if needed. Of course the oil needs to be drained and LH side cover taken off..