Hey Tom, its really easy to remove covers from Humbuckers, I do that quite often, since I only have one pair of aged covers. (did the aging myself too :-))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uBXid7Eq4A here is a good video.
What I doo additionally is potting the cover so it wonīt get microphonic. First I `close`the holes on the cover from the outside with ducking tape, then I put a few small pieces of wax (that was originally on the pickup) in it, heat it up (hairdryer, hot water, whatever... donīt use a lighter! :-)) and then push the pickup hard into the cover and let the wax cool down under the pressure. This makes sure that there are no gaps and the cover fits as tightly as possible.
Then a little soldering (be quick here) on the back and its done.
Works great for me.
Also, you should not worry about covers so much, they all do the same to the sound, which is like putting a thin blanket on the speaker.
With my method you can try your pickup with and without cover, whatever you like best.
I have the RY as well, Without cover it sounds more agressive, more in your face, the cover takes away just a bit of that.
I use it with cover, makes the sound more elegant.
Hope this helps!!!