You're lucky you didn't break your airbox cover.
Took me forever to actually find one, but one finally popped up on eBay. Took me about a total of 20 minutes. Couldn't believe how easy it was. I don't have a jack, so I used a crank strap. I wouldn't recommend this method for anyone else because the air box cover was creaking. The old one was definitely shot.
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You're lucky you didn't break your airbox cover.
I wonder if you took your air cover off if it would be better. Clever workaround.
I did not expect that plastic covers are so strong.
How many miles on your bike? how did you notice it was in need of replacing?
I cranked it pretty hard. When I was putting the new one on I had to loosen it up because the engine was too high to line up the bolts. I would do it again if I had too knowing that it doesn't take too much tension to hold the tension.