When I first got my bike, I found so much wrong with it I tore the whole thing apart. One of the things I found was small indentations in the 836 pistons, where the valves had been making contact. Fearing the worst, I took the head to the local Honda shop, and specifically asked that the valves be checked for bending. The shop told me the valves were OK, and I cut the valve reliefs into the pistons to match my cam.
If you had seriously bent valves, enough to crack the pistons, I doubt the motor would run so well, plus it would have made a hell of a racket when the damage was done.