This project can be done without draining the oil from the engine, as long as you do not upright the bike. This means: Leave the bike leaned over on its side-stand. Once the generator cover is loose, you may lose a few tablespoons of oil, but unless your bike's lean-angle has been altered by lowering the suspension or something, no significant amount should spill out.

Tip: If you have lowered your suspension, you can increase the lean-angle by putting the tires on something (very stable) roughly the same height as the amount you’ve lowered your bike. In other words, if your bike is lowered 1.5”, you can lay a short 2x8” board flat under each tire. Or you can just drain at least some of the motor oil.

Remove the seat. Disconnect the positive battery cable.

Remove the left side cover. Then remove the right side cover. Remember, the right side cover has a small flange-head bolt near the joint between the two side covers.

Next unbolt the right-side floorboard bracket. It is held on by two button-head bolts going into the frame. Be careful to support the floorboard assembly as it comes loose. This assembly is still attached by the hydraulic hose and the brake light wiring. Use a tool box or other support to lay the floorboard assembly onto.

Warning: If you just let the floorboard assembly hang by the taillight wires or hydraulic hose, you run the risk of breaking the wires loose from the brake light switch, or damaging the switch itself.

Remove the front exhaust pipe.

Now unplug the stator connector from the wiring harness. This is found behind the frame’s seat-tube, just behind the rear cylinder. See photo below.

Tip: To make it much easier to fish the new stator wires through the space between the engine and transfer case, I recommend using an old trick: Tie and tape a piece of strong string with a secure, but small knot around the stator wires at the connector. Instead of string, you could use an electrician’s ‘fish’ tape. Just be sure it is secured well to the stator wires at the connector.

Now crawl beneath the bike, and pull the stator wires down and out from the corrugated wiring harness tube. Untie your ‘fish string’ from the old stator wire, but tie the string temporarily somewhere, so it won’t get accidentally pulled it back out.

Next, unbolt the two bolts holding the generator's oil-delivery-tube into the right side of the engine. It is much easier to remove this pipe and the generator cover as a unit, rather than to try to separate them while on the engine. See photo below.

Unbolt and remove the generator cover and oil delivery pipe, as a unit. All the generator cover bolts are the same size, except two longer ones:

• The central bolt near the top
• The bolt nearest the oil delivery tube

The bolt nearest the oil delivery tube has a copper or aluminum washer. Keep track of (or replace) this washer, and where it goes.

The generator cover is magnetized to the generator rotor. To remove the cover, un-bolt it, pull or tap it free of its gasket seal, work it off its alignment dowels, and then pull the cover free with enough force to overcome the magnetic force.

Tip: Stuff a rag or rubber glove partially into the big holes at the bottom of the generator area in the engine case. This will prevent small parts like alignment dowels from 'jumping' in.

Remove, and keep track of, the two alignment dowels. They have a tendency to slip out of your hands and fall in to very frustrating places, so be careful.

If your bike is a model 2003, or earlier, I highly recommend you do the Starter Spin Fix while you have the generator exposed. See the Fixing the Starter Spin Problem article in this website for details.