Starter Removal Part 2

 First thing to do here is straighten out the lock tab. Some quick work with a selection of screwdrivers and a hammer took care of that.

One of the crucial tools for removing nuts on moving objects (and I'm not talking about knocking off Alazzurra owners from their bikes) is an impact wrench. The other choice is to find a way to lock the engine but really an impact wrench is so much faster. I believe this nut was 30mm.

 The rotor came off, it's keyed to the shaft. Then the flywheel which just rides on double caged needle bearings.

So I won't forget, and trust me, I will, here is the order of the parts. Spacer, bearings sit on top of the spacer and then one shim. Apparently the number of shims may vary by bike? Luckily I just have one to keep track of.

 So the last thing I want to mess up is the timing. To make sure it goes back on like it came off I scribed marks around the washer on the retaining screws. If all goes well I should just reassemble and line up the marks.

 I marked both screws but in theory you would only need to do one. Theory always works out great, in theory...

 Sorry I didn't take more pictures but I popped off the circlip on the starter gear and slid it off. Then I removed the two screws hold on the starter. There's a third screw but it's on the outside of the engine. I'll get to that when I'm ready to remove the starter.

 I found this tear in the gasket, it's in the right location for the observed oil leak. There is a good chance it's not actually leaking at the starter as I assumed. But really at this point I have to pull the starter to check. I'm down to one screw.

This is how I left it last night. It was really not that hard. Just taking bits off. Of course the challenge is always to put it back together and not have too many parts left over...