How do you remove the blimming fork snap-ring? Nothing to grip on to, to shift the bugger...

Cheers

Matt

The one above the fork seal? ...I'm using two small screwdrivers,
one of them grinded to a wedge shape at the tip.

Yes, the one about the seal. Struggling to get at it, even with a fine jewellers screw driver, though, I'm being a bit paranoid about slipping and scratching the the slider. Will have another go tomorrow.

Some patience is also needed when dealing with these buggers.
Everytime I have to remove some of these, I learn a few new words.

G'day hitmanh , yeah a bit of practice is required for these little buggers , what I usually do is to push the fork seal down out of the way with a piece of wooden dowel then using your free hand carefully lever the ring out of the groove with a jewellers screw driver , leave the screwdriver there then with a fine pair of needle nose pliers grab hold of the ring and pull it clear , this can be easier if you have an able bodied assistant to push the seal down , oh forgot to mention , I've only ever done it with the fork tube out of the bike held firmly in a vice ( use soft jaws ! )

good luck !

JR

Melbourne Australia

The problems I've encountered are where an old snap-ring has been re-used. Nothing wrong with that as long as the end hasn't been damaged making it difficult to get leverage.

I find that clamping the ring inside the slider with mole-grips helps. Needle nose grips and a rag to prevent damage, clamped opposite the open side of the snap-ring will stop it sliding inside the recess and it will pull the ring over slightly to allow you to get a hook under the end.

Replace them with new once you have them out. You'll be glad that you did the next time you have to do the job.

Thanks all, got them out eventually, just took a bit of patience and a smaller jewellers screwdriver. I'm going to replace the snap-rings as there is some rusting, the dust covers obviously need replacing, the amount of gritty crud where the really the snap-rings sat cannot have done the seals any good. Next job is strip down the forks, clean them up and new springs to install.

Thanks!

Matt

Hi I am also having trouble removing Fork snap ring, can not get it to budge ! could it be Rusted on ?

I doubt it would be rusted on but they can be real buggers to budge. I ended up making a small cheap screwdriver into a sort of chisle point with a bend and finally got it to get under the ring.

I was getting to the stage of experimenting with fire to see if it would come, if you can get a second person to hold the cap down it helps a lot.

Thanks Rick, Will give it a try

I use a small bearing puller to hold the cap down. then gently pry the clip out.