05 Yz125 carb removal

So I went about changing the needle in my '05 yz125's carb and the removal/getting the carb to an angle I could work on it with was not easy. We removed the silencer, dropped the sub-frame including the air-boot, disconnected it from the reeds, and even took the shock bolt out and it was still a 2 1/2 hour job!!!! My Dad and I do all of our own maintenance that we can, so we're pretty savvy, but do any of y'all know any tricks or is it just a practice-makes-perfect kinda thing.