Quick Crankshaft Sensor question

The marks need to be lined up properly whether the sensor requires it or not, but I'm pretty sure the sensor requires it to be in the proper position to function correctly as well. Why not install the gear correctly?

I was looking at the gear on the crankshaft yesterday and I am pretty sure now that there is only one way that it can go on. So now i just need to figure out why it still isnt starting.

There has to be a way to adjust the timing gear, or 1 and 4 aren't at TDC.

Your crank position sensor is what is called a Hall effect sensor. As the timing gear teeth pass by it, the sensor measures each as a magnetic pulse. Based on pulse frequency, the sensor can measure crank speed. There should be an 'interruption' somewhere on the gear where there are double teeth (or two in a row missing). This gap when passing by the sensor would help signal where the 1 & 4 cylinder are.

Concerning your original question, it might be worth testing this sensor if it's indeed bad. Do you get any error codes trying to start the bike?