1000 engine removal shaft drive???

I am pulling the engine on my 81 shaft drive 1000. I have everything unhooked, all motor mounts off, carbs, exhaust, etc. etc.
The only thing left is the shaft part. Do I need to remove the rear swingarm first? Is the shaft just have a slip joint in it that comes apart?
Tips, tricks?
Thanks

Disconnecting the swingarm and shaft at the motor and removing them as an assembly would be the best way to go.
Where the swingarm (see pic below) attaches to the front bevel gears at the motor, and where it attaches to the final drive (see pic in next post) there are shims (ref# 92025F~N in the pic)in there. So be extra careful in which order those shims are removed and exactely where they belong in relation to the entire driveshaft assemble, because they may not be all of the same thickness.
One shim missing or installed incorrectly can create some serious vibration issues at specific, or even all RPMs.
Even then, you still might need to measure and and re-shim both the bevel gears and final drive gears.
Because even though you will have bolted the engine in exactely as it was removed, there may be some minute alignment that isn't as it was previously.

Pic of front bevel gears:

I recommend you leave the swingarm and drive shaft on the bike. The swingarm is fairly hard to remove as the pivots get semi-welded into the bearings which in all liklihood will still be just fine otherwise. The first step is to remove the four bolts holding the final drive (at rear wheel). Then, push the rubber shroud over the front part of the shaft near the bevel gear case. Locate the SMALL hole as there is a spring loaded pin and despress the in while pulling to the rear on the shaft. The shaft will just remain IN the swingarm till reassembly. I would also leave the bevel gear case on the engine. The manual may advise removing it but this is to reduce weight. The bevel gear gasket may not be all that easy to find and as I said, I would leave the case in place so as not to disturb the gasket unless work needs to be done in this area. If that is the case, a NEW gasket will have to be fabricated. You can remove the engine with the bike on centerstand the rear wheel removed with no problems as far as balance and stability go.

ok,
I have a few more questions

The bike/engine only has 9600 miles on it. It has not been on the road since "about" 1988. It has been rode a little off and on since then, but not a whole lot. The reason I am pulling the engine is to seal it up. Has alot of oil leaks, mainly from the topend.

Looks like the valve cover and cam seals, shifter shaft seal, head studs seeping. Once I have the engine out and cleaned up, I will start to remove some parts. "If" I put a new head gasket on, do I need to replace the cylinder jug gasket since the bolts will be untourqed?

While the engine is out, I would like to adjust the valves. The cam chain tensioner is automatic, so I don't need to do anything there, correct? Is there any other things I should look for while the engine is out?

I don't want to tear the engine down, just a quick re-seal and put it back in. I know it runs good, as I had it running last fall. Seems like alot of oil leaks for such low mileage though.

Lastly, I'm sure there are some vendors aboard that could hook me up with the gaskets I will need. Any recommendations? I don't think I need a whole kit, just a few misc. ones.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike is it? That comes across a bit better than "HTSOB" bwhahaha I always feel a bit uncomfortable calling another man an SOB. Around where I live, most everyone is carrying and that nicname would end in perforation of the epidermis, most likely... Anyway, you wrote:

"Looks like the valve cover and cam seals, shifter shaft seal, head studs seeping. Once I have the engine out and cleaned up, I will start to remove some parts. "If" I put a new head gasket on, do I need to replace the cylinder jug gasket since the bolts will be untourqed?"

LEAVE THE ENGINE IN THE BIKE!!! No need to pull the engine to do any sealing.

The valve cover and cam seals are self explanatory. The valve cover needs replacing and the cam end plugs can be pulled out and resealed with the glop of your choice. Lots of opinions on what works best. The shift shaft goes through a cover than can be removed without pulling the engine. You can buy a full set of engine seals which are essentially installed into engine covers for about $30 I think. Get a set of deep sockets; you will need some big ones (my impact set goes up over 30mm and that is what I use). Anyway, drive out the old seals and drive in the new using sockets. As far as the studs leaking... that ain't the studs, that is the oil journals and the oil tells you that you are getting oil up to the cam area. Take off the stud nuts and remove the copper washers underneath. Get a propane torch and heat each in turn till it is glowing hot and dump it in cold water. This process is called annealing. This give the copper the ability to crush; thus to seal once again. You can use some stuff like liquid gasket (I use Copper Permatex Form-a-Gasket) on the underside of the washers for added seal. When you reinstall the stud nuts, you do it in a SPECIFIC pattern. I can give you the pattern, if needed but it is in all manuals. You first toque to an initial torque spec and then retorque to the final spec. The first torque is (I THINK; from memory) 18 lbs then retorque spec is 25 lbs... Again, check your manual to be sure but if you don't break the gasket seal, there is no need to pull off the top to install a new gasket/retorque. If you have leaks in the cylinder head or base gasket or tachometer drive areas which are all common areas, you can yank the top of the engine (head/block) without pulling the cases and the engine is a whole lot easier to work on bolted in the frame. The tach drive stuff should be replaced. There is an o-ring and a seal that looks like a valve stem oil seal.

Get your parts at www.z1enterprises.com - Jeff has all this junk in stock I bet.