Right (Crankshaft Cover?) Patching (Newbie Q)

Alright, here it goes:

First Post, first XJ, first bike. (1981 XJ 650H Maxim)

I've been reading a lot on the forums, have bookmarked a lot of maintenance, and am taking Fitz's posts as the word of God. That being said, I want to make sure an issue I have is resovlable before sinking more money into this bike.

Here's the picture: picture of problem

The best name that I could come up with is the right crankshaft cover, but I'm not sure if that's correct. It seems analogous to the ignition/crankshaft cover on the left side of the bike. As you can see, the PO has patched/'repaired' the cover with something like JB weld, but there's definitely a piece of metal missing. If you can't tell from the picture, it's patched in a way that makes it impossible to remove the cover.

I was wondering:

1. How important is the ability to remove the cover on the right hand side of the bike?

2. If patching is a viable solution what should I use to try to patch the hole?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

1. Not at all.

2. I wouldn't. I would take off the cover, clean up the side of the crankcase and explore the options.

And then replace the cover. It doesn't cover anything, it's just for looks.

 

There are aftermarket replacements abalonle for not too much money online.

As Fitz said, it doesent really do anything but for looks and keeps the dirt out I'm sure.

 

That is uuuuugly. But yeah... Surely there's some way to remove it? Gosh. Why would they do that? *head shake*

 

Alright, thanks for the info. Now I feel more confident about PMing Chacal to get some other parts ordered. Checking valve clearances today!