John, removing and replacing the alternator is like grief for many owners. We read: "It would be easy if the engine was out". Was that something you did before installing that engine?
Yes, but with a twist. Difficulty re. R&R of the alternator is due to frame interference(my opnion poor engineering) but is accomplished with some effort and a ridiculous amount of time for such a simple task. Next in line in that issue is the location of the wiring once installed...ridiculous. Why on earth didn't they just allow the alternator to be clocked around for easy access? What I did was physically install the alternator using only a couple bolts to hold it in place. Once the engine was in place, I removed those bolts and pulled the alternator out far enough to allow turning it physically to enable attaching the wiring, then placing it back into the motor. At one point I had considered making up a short pigtail that semi-permanently attached to the alternator, then once it's installed you just connect the pigtail with the existing harness from the bike. Obviously the pigtail would be made with matching connectors.
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General:
As for the overall project, doing an engine R&R is something I've done a couple other times so I'm a bit amused and confused by the reaction. It can be time consuming but not necessarily a daunting task. The only difference in my approach this time was to see if it could be done without pulling the tank, airbox, and carbs. Removing the motor was easily done without pulling all the items mentioned but installing the new motor caused me to go ahead and pull those three things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Again, it could have been accomplished without pulling those parts but found it more difficult and very time consuming so yanked them. This motor has reverse capability(reason for the change) but that's the only major difference once the Wing motor is adapted to the Valk configuration...a simple yet time consuming project in itself. The reverse engagement apparatus takes up space almost directly to the rear from the ignition and a bit lower, taking up some of the empty space often covered by the Kuryakyn transmission cover for that area. That prevents using that cover without modification which I'll do later once all is in place and operating correctly.
I appreciate the general interest, it definitely is an encouragement so will continue to post updates on either successes or failures. Except for the old body, failures have been limited(no broken bolts...yet). Since I'm approaching attempted start-up using an external test tank, my next project is to add some truck stacks to the exhaust. Currently the pipes are stock I/S and don't show out the back under the bumper. The stacks will be long enough to extend a couple inches past the bumper. I'm open to suggestions for either a source for stacks or full replacement. Thanks everyone, hope to be driving this alteration at IZ26 if not before.
