blah blah, I read it's hard to get it in there correctly and I can see why...so that leads to my question.

Why in the world is it needed in the 1st place?

Why didn't they just make that a slip fit like THE TWO DAMN other ones a few inches away?

Why would they over complicate this?

 

Because is allows the crossover to move slightly when the motor moves in the motor mounts. This is very apparent when we have a bike on the dyno and watch the right side of the exhaust move with the motor. Also note the crossover is very easy to install if it done properly, what most people do is try to slide the pipe straight on which does not work and damages the gasket because the crossover is angled. All you need to do is rotate the crossover at a 45 degree angle with the outlet toward the ground, align the inlet to the head pipe and it will rotate right into place like magic

 

That's all well and good but this gasket was not on previous years and those years exhaust attached the same way, just not under the swingarm.