Fork seal washer under snap ring question...

[asbjones]

'85 GS1150es , I just changed the fork tube and there is a washer under the snap ring that I'm reinstalling, its aluminum and its bent from the snap ring for the fork seal, should I flatten it and reinstall it?
I'm starting to wonder if its supposed to be steel and not aluminum, kinda confusing ....

[Suzuki_Don]

It should be steel I would think. Don't know about 1150s but on the 650 forks it is definitely a steel washer under the circlip/retaining ring.

[GregT]

I'd flatten & reuse it. The steel OE washers rust really badly as water collects at that point. I'd guess a PO may have replaced steel with alloy.
It's only function is as a spacer so it shouldn't cause any problems - and it won't rust.

Greg T

[asbjones]

well I just flattened it and put it back together, I used a piece of pvc to tap the seal in and it worked awesome! yea my stantion had a bend in it so I had to replace it, got my front wheel rebalanced and should have it together later, there was a vibration in the front end when I would take one hand of the bars, thanks guys!!