Removing the shifter cover on a VTZ (maybe Spada).... drop the engine?!

[sleemanj]

Argh. Bad gasket behind the gear shifter cover on my Honda VTZ, simple job thinks I. Think again.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the shifter cover off without literally removing all the engine mounting bolts and shifting the engine about 5mm forward at best, maybe even having to drop the engine right down.

5mm more clearance and it'd slide right off.

Has anybody taken the shifter cover off a VTZ (maybe the Spada is the same) without moving the engine, am I missing some stupid trick here?

[sleemanj]

For future googlers...

Jack under the engine.

Ratchet tiedown from a convenient point on the frame around under the engine to the other side, ratchet it up tight, but position the strap so you can wiggle it a bit looser when needed later.

Remove the lower rear engine bolt (runs right across), the lower front bolt (runs right across) and the two upper front bolts (allen key heads, one on each side). You don't want to remove the upper rear one which is buried behind the rear cylinder.

Use the ratchet strap and jack to pivot the engine just enough to squeeze the cover past the frame. Do what you got to do to it, put it back.

Stick some old screwdrivers through the mounting bolt holes "just in case" until you get it aligned good enough for the bolts to go through.

Wiggle/release (carefully!) the ratchet strap so it allows the engine to drop back down that 5mm to line up the bolt holes sufficiently to put everything back togethor.

PITA, but not that bad, was going to just use a jack, but glad I changed my mind because the ratchet strap allowed much better control over how high it needed to be pulled and made it quite easy to lower back into place.