When my bike got knocked over at Vintage Days last year, the turn signal was one of the casualties. I ended up taking the whole side panel off to replace it, but I needed to do that because of my other damage. I'm not sure you can get to all the screws for the signal, with the panel still on the bike. Maybe, maybe not. You can take the bulb out, with the panel still on, and then there aren't any wires to worry about. But getting the panel off is hard. You might prefer to have a manual. Perhaps someone can send you those pages from an electronic copy? I know some people here have them, but my copy is paper.
Have you had any of the bodywork off before? Here's a rough outline:
1. Take the seat off.
2. Take off the soft rubber strip around the gas tank under the nose of the seat - it just pulls off.
3. Take off the plastic thing between the seat and footpegs. It's two-tone and has several tabs and posts, but no tools are needed to get it off.
4. Take off the black plastic thing from the tipover wing. It has one screw on the underside.
5. Take off the black plastic thing with the vent slats that's in front of your knee. One screw, several tabs. Pull the post out at the back, flex it vertically, pull it towards the back. It takes a scary amount of bending.
6. Take off the pocket cover. Open halfway then pop it off the hinge, no tools needed.
7. Take off the pocket. One easily visible screw, two screws in the hinge, a screw by the steering head, and there's a bolt on the side of the tank that will give you wiggle room if you take it out. There's a sort of ear that wraps around the top of the tank, held in place by a hook and a square of dual lock. Start from the side towards the center and peel it up off the dual-lock, and stick a piece of cardboard in to keep it from sticking back together. Once the dual lock isn't hampering you, you can push the ear down and slide towards the outside to unhook it, at which point the whole thing can be maneuvered out. There's a whole post thread on this somewhere, with pictures.
Once you have the pocket out, you can see into the cavity where the signal is. Perhaps you can replace it from here without taking anything else apart.
