Originally Posted by Tom84FXST

Unique? One of a kind? It is virtually identical to the shovelhead setup in use since 1970.

Tons of people will tell you it is doable without removing the oil tank..and it is easy to get the starter off without removing the oil tank...but getting it back on...without it leaking oil...is difficult at best. The old 4 speed type starter requires more finesse that the newer 89 up starter.

Do yourself a huge favor and completely remove the oil tank...takes 15 minutes if you have never done it before...after the oil tank is out of the way...the rest of the job is a piece of cake...in the long run you will actually save time...because the starter is so easy to install with the tank out of the way.

Originally Posted by Bingee

The inner primary is now off the bike. The oil tank was not removed but loosened so that the bolts attaching the starter gear box to the primary could be accessed. The service manual for the '88 shows the '84 starter gear box by mistake which is not nearly the same and causes major confusion. Anyway, the inner primary removal was as I expected a royal PIA. All this just to replace a stator.