If your removing metal shavings... I would strongly suggest an oil change. What makes you think there's metal in your crankcase?

 

Thanks guys (and gals?). Spot on.

Well, previous mechanic tightened the aluminum Crankbolt Hole Cover (the big one in the middle of the left side cover) to about 100lb/ft. So I stripped the hex bolt hole trying to get it off. My friend tried several ways to get it off unsuccessfully & finally just drilled thru the cap in several places to make a slot in the cap, shoved the handle of an adjustable wrench into the slot & turned it with some vicegrips or something.

So the hole was full of metal chips & shavings. Anyway, yes, very little oil gets into this area; not even enough that a drop would come out. There is really no way for anything in the stator area to get into the crank case, but those shaving just bugged me.

 

That part of the engine is not sealed guys.
And oil level is gonna be oil level , all the way across the case. Its physics.
The mag stator is cooled by the engine oil also, so they make sure a sizable amount of oil exchange takes place there.
So when you crack that side cover oil will run out with a quickness.
Do like someone said earlier, and what we would do with our MX bikes,
lay the bike over 60 degrees or more and work on it without draining oil.

( tip, be careful not to damage your stator, its easier than you think )

 

I checked some old posts and I think L8RGYZ has been through the seized crankshaft hole cover thing before. Me too. They will seize even if they've not been overtightened. I loosen and retighten the crankshaft hole cover and the timing hole cover a couple of times a year to ensure that they don't seize.