When I opened up my savage a few years back I reused both
side-cover gaskets (the ones for the cylinder head I bought new).

Basically I just used a razor blade to separate them form the covers,
one broke a bit, no big deal, last I cleaned the covers really well
and used a MINIMAL amount of good 600° orange engine silicone on
both sides of the covers, let them dry a bit and then stuck the gasket
in there, tighten the lids in "x" pattern,  no problem in 3 years till now,
bike is still dry I hear.

The one thing to watch for here is being careful not to obstruct the
little oil canals (veins) with silicone or anything,  too much silicon is
bad because a big enough blob lose in there could potentially block
your oilpump.

Japanese work with paper only, not a problem as long as the side
covers are clean and tight. I once made a side gasket for an old quad
i had by tracing the pattern with and xacto out of a thick folder, not
manila but the thick paper waxy kind, and held for ever.

Looked online, one guy said he used the silicone from a brake job ,,another said pit crews use vaseline on carb gaskets, I had the silicone,, Ill slap it on tomorrow,,


& BOY Howdy did I dodge a bullet,, I forgot abut replacing a cam chain guide because when the clutch actuator "Paddle" broke, it somehow caused one to break, causing the chain tensioner to flop about,, anyway,, I just touched the nut on the primary drive gear & it moved,,, Shazzam! Im glad I found that,,

AND I finally understand what gear is backwards when ya get the oil pump gear "Not Engaged",, Its not the oil pump gear, its the gear behi9nd the clutch,, the upset/collar goes toward the engine, setting the gear teeth out from the engine centerline,, I had it sitting together & couldnt see, an old visor mirror solved that, & the gears were just barely engaged,, Dodged UH Nuther bullet,