This does sound like a phase not firing, very apparent when under load. Have you measured for continuity between all the pairings of the three phase wires? However check out Alan's suggestion since you have SLAs.when testing whether it did, I found that if I lift the back wheel and apply the throttle straight to max, the juddering >does< still happen, despite the load being removed.
The only suggestion I can give for separating the motor side plate is to remove all spindle nuts from the other side and then give that other side spindle end a sharp tap with a mallet or hammer. The motor core will often then drive apart the end plate and shell.
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