Right - and there is another little unit with a very similar looking metal cover under the right hand sidecover and that one is the starter safety relay (SSR).
The SSR is important because it prevents the starter motor from working if the engine is already running. Some folks have disconnected it with the result that if they accidentally bump the starter button, they will grind all those delicate and unreplacable starter gears to a pulp.
On the other hand, if the SSR fails, your starter won’t work no matter what - so you just take off the little cover (two extremely small JIS sheet metal screws) and clean the contacts. The job takes about 10 minutes and requires one small JIS screwdriver, a nail file and a can of electrical contact cleaner.
Pete