Yep, I'll split the cases. I'm 52 years old, and do all my own work except machining - have been wrenching/tuning/rebuilding bikes since I was 12 years old (split my first case at 14). Did it professionally for several years. I know.... fish tale..... no, seriously.
If you can foot the bill for the tools (some you can now rent from the bike shops), and are mechanically gifted/inclined, confident and want the experience, I would recommend you do it yourself. I use a puller to dis-assemble, but use the freezer and propane torch or oven for re-assembly of press-fit assemblies. Less stress (re-assembling with the tool makes me nervous - I've seen a lot of cases over-stressed and cracked), and I'm never out of spec on the crank by the time I button things up. The parts just drop into place, let the temps equalize to normal and viola.... no fuss - no muss.
If you don't have one, spend the 20-30 bucks on ebay for a good Yamaha workshop manual (CD or hardcopy), take your time, stay focused, and hit up the forums if you have any questions, concerns or problems. It's not hard at all. Either re-install nuts, bolts, etc. wherever you can, or tag and bag them in zip-locks. Keep as many sub-assemblies laid out in order and assembled as much as you can keep them. Get a couple old shoe boxes, draw the outline of your covers and case halves, poke some holes in the locations where the bolts go, and you'll never have to guess if the right bolt went in the right hole. I still do that, even after all these years. The shoe box doubles as a good place to keep your bagged small parts.
When you pull the transmission shafts out, keep them tight, in sequence and rubber band them together at each end. That'll keep them from separating or sliding off the shafts. Put them in clean box or wooden tray to keep them intact. That way you can reinstall them just as they came out. Otherwise, or if you want to inspect everything thoroughly, you'll have a learning curve on how to properly re-assemble a transmission. Watch out for the sneaky little thrust washers that stick to the ends of the gears (don't loose them or put them back in the wrong place). Keep everything in proper order, or it won't shift right when it's re-assembled.
It's exciting to us old guys to hear of a young guy bailing into their first case work. Keep us informed of your progress!! There's a huge amount of satisfaction knowing you did it, it works, and you'll now do it again (cuz it really wasn't that bad).
Good luck, learn a lot, and have fun doing it:thumbup