Fork frustrations.

I'm in the middle of changing the fork oil on my '82 KZ440 LTD and I'm running into a frustrating problem. I'm stuck trying to get the circlip out of the top that holds the spring in. Unfortunately, the circlip is not the flat kind with the holes that make it easy to get out with a snap-ring pliers, but it is the wire kind that has nothing to grab on to. And to make things worse, these are air forks, so there is a fitting in the middle, taking up valuable space for tools I could use to get the circlip out. I've looked in the service manual, but it wasn't much help.

It seems like I need at least four hands plus an unusual amount of luck to get the clirclip out. I need one hand to hold the upper half of the fork; one hand to compress the spring; and two hands to move the circlip around, hoping that one of the ends will pop out of the groove so that the whole clip might be removed.

Is there an easier way (other than admitting defeat and taking it to a shop)?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Drink more scotch...

Oh and welcome to the site. I am sure there are people well informed on your specific problem.

Cheers man.

When I did my '79 kz400, had the same type of circlip, but not an air fork so I can't quite tell if that makes it harder. The way I did it was to take a thin bladed screwdriver to pry one of the ends out of the groove and grabbed it with some needle nose pliers. Then I used the screwdriver to push down on the spring and kind of "corkscrewed" the circlip out.

Hope that helps

One of two things must be there, either a notch on the circlip to get behind it and pry it out, or tapered ends on the circlip so you can pry ot out. In both cases you pry out one end and wind the clip out.

Small screwdriver works best for me.

Thanks for the suggestions. Currently, I've been using a couple of picks with bent ends to try to pry on end up, The snap-ring pliers I have won't fit because of air fitting. After many hours of blood, sweat, and tears, I was finally able to pry the circlip on one of the forks out with the help of my daughter. The second fork is looking harder.

I guess I need to look around for a small screwdriver or some other device.

And if you need a hand to hold the fork tube then just clamp it back in the triple tree while you poke out the circlip.

My 750 has the same setup. It may help to try and push down on the air valve with a socket. It will help take some pressure off the clip, but also take up some room to get a tool in there...keep at it, it will come off.