What you describe regarding the lifter components sounds normal, I do not believe your problem is with the lifter components. Ordinarily these parts can only rotate a few degrees, if they rotate too far then the balls ride right up out of the ramps and sit between the lifter cam and the release shaft's plate.
Rotation is normally limited by the end of the adjusting bolt bearing against the lifter piece in the center of lifter plate, which is under spring pressure from the clutch springs.
It's sounding more and more likely to me that spline alignment is your problem. When it is incorrect, the lifter plate cannot move "outward" far enough, creating the gap you're noticing between the lifter piece and the adjusting bolt.
You also describe being able to put the bike into gear, with the engine running, and NOT having the rear wheel spin. This suggests the clutch is DISENGAGED and spinning freely. Ordinarily you pull the clutch lever which DISENGAGES the clutch, and release the lever to ENGAGE the clutch. From your description the plates are not grabbing down on one another, so disengaged, which is a symptom of the spline alignment problem.
I would suggest you mark the orientation of the parts, pull out the clutch center, plates, and pressure plate, and check your spline alignment as per the photos above.
mystic_1