Unnecessary circlip? One fork rebuilt, one stuck in the tree - help?

[Guest]

81 gs650gl without air suspension.

I got new seals for my bike and had a friend help with one of them. He since passed away, and I didn't touch it for a couple months. I'm in the process of moving and just finished one up the other day and went to start on the second one.
I tried several things to break the tube free, and it's moved down 1/4". Unfortunately, I mushroomed the top a little on maybe 1/6th of the circumference. I can see a small gap around the shaft, even where it is mushroomed. The clamp bolt is completely removed, by the way.

We had drained both forks of oil, so I had to get the cap off the one that is now stuck. I managed to do that and refill it with oil (after I tracked down the 2 springs and 2 spacers and top cap. The rag I put on top of the cap caught the small spring, but the cap bounced off the carport roof haha)
Anyway, I've used a short 2lb sledge, a 3lb deadblow, and an 8lb splitting axe - all with drifts of some sort. I was finally able to get it to move just a little bit with heat and oil (3 cycles of heating, oiling, cooling) Most of my blows were to the top cap, until it broke free enough to get the retaining ring out. I need to get another copper anti-friction ring, so I just refilled it for now. I just need to be able to ride (or push) it 2 blocks to my new house.

On the one I rebuilt, I had posted a comment that I couldn't compress the spring enough to get the cap back in. Turns out that the geniuses who worked on the bike before I did *added* a circlip (and scored up part #18 on this diagram. https://www.suzukipartshouse.com/oem...t-fork-model-x The fork I haven't opened can't extend fully with the oil bolt in because the circlip is securing part 18 into part 23.

I'm almost at the point of wanting to get myself a new set of forks because of the wear on these shafts and the small amount of rust on them - but moreover so I could have 2 front brake discs instead of 1.

I was thinking about it last night in the shower, and it occurred to me that maybe there is a reason to have the circlip there, as an extension stop but I really do think that it was just added in by someone clueless. Even though the circlip doesn't fit because of the ears, there is a channel where a retaining ring could go. I definitely don't see it in the manual or any parts diagrams though.


I did find a useful tip for anyone installing the copper anti-friction ring aka tube guide P/N 51152-45400 . A piece of PVC pipe, 2ft long and 1-1/4 diameter will fit around the shaft and press the ring in perfectly - if you cut a line all the way along the PVC pipe. This can be tricky, but I used a clamp to hold the pipe, a shim, and a jigsaw to cut it. It worked beautifully.
The other tip is to make sure you have the inner shaft inserted before trying to install the anti-friction ring.


SO, the point - is there any reason there should be a retaining ring holding the oil lock (#18) into the inner shaft (#23)?
Is there some trick for getting the inner tubes out of the tree? I will remove the mushroomed portion ASAP, but it will clear the clamp as is. I noticed that the angle seemed to be an issue when installing the other tube.

Cheers and stay warm out there!

[Dogma]

18 should not be attached to 23 directly. The screw (10) passes through the slider (3), oil lock (18), the end of the fork leg (23), and threads into the cylinder (20, "damper rod").

To free the tube from the triple clamp, use a stout screwdriver in the clamp's slot to pry the clamp open until the fork can move. You don't want to pry on it hard enough to open the slot unless it's already deformed. Just enough to hold it open until the fork comes out. You can assess damage or dirt after it's apart and take any necessary corrective action after that.

If you don't already understand how the fork works, Racetech has an article that describes the function of the damper rod fork, here. Once you understand how it works, it'll make more intuitive sense how it should go together.