I want to preface this by saying that I don't know either party involved. The following is my opinion based solely on the information presented in this thread.
Fast forward to March of 2018. .....(shortened for shortness-65SC) Tim eventually arrives....we unload the bikes and then he tells me something like "I didn't bring your engine as I really want to tune it in myself" and assured me it would be done soon and will be shipped shortly....and I really wanted to belive him. He texts me later when he gets home and wants money for gas....understandable as it was quite a drive for him...$80 sent.
Someone in the build thread joked about being sold your engine. I'm inclined to think that your engine really was sold to someone else.
Wouldn't that meeting have been a prime opportunity to deliver? You even paid for his gas, which was IMO implicitly extorted(might sour relations if you don't pay, right?). He knew you wanted it and knew you'd ask about it, but still didn't bring it. He couldn't be bothered to tune it for
two years at that point, so why keep it and risk more fallout on the weak pretense that the near future would be different? Why keep using the worn-out excuse "yeah, I'll have time next week" month-after-month?
Because there's no engine. It's gone.