Fixing oil leak from rear main seal flange

OK, I've probably got the known issue of the rear flange oil leak. I don't know why the leak just became noticeable, but I can't see where else it could be coming from. I'm ready to tear the beast down and try to fix this on my own!

My question for Pete or anyone who has done this kind of work: can you remove the gearbox and clutch as a single unit, without having to drain the gearbox and remove it from the clutch separately? The service manual only discusses the rear main seal access in the context of first removing the gearbox, but I only want to take apart as little as possible. It seems the clutch housing can unbolt from the crankcase, and I could just take off the entire read section with gearbox as well?

Any tips from someone who has done this job would be much appreciated! I found a cheap flange puller that looks like it should do the job, but any suggestions are most welcome. I am thinking of doing this over the thanksgiving holidays, and at the same time removing the frame for powder-coating. Might as well make the most of having the bike in pieces!

No need to drain the gearbox. The clutch is bolted to the crank and has to come off to access the flange. I'll see if I can find some pics.

Pete Roper wrote:

No need to drain the gearbox. The clutch is bolted to the crank and has to come off to access the flange. I'll see if I can find some pics.

Good to know! Any relevant pics would be great, thanks Pete! I also read about filing/machining of a too-long oil feed pipe, but I'm not clear on that part of it. Any pics or details on that would be very helpful as well. The part about replacing the bottom two bolts with shorter ones, and using threebond 1211 instead of a new gasket seems straightforward.