Fork Oil Change

I changed the fork oil a few weeks ago and installed some fork gaiters.

I had to pull the fork legs to put the gaiters on, but it really wasn't a big job. However, with the fork legs removed from the bike, I had a hard time getting the fork springs out.

To remove the fork springs, you have to compress a cap in the top of the fork and remove an internal circlip that holds the spring in.

The problem was, it took a fair amount of force to compress the cap, and I had a really hard time figuring out how to keep the cap compressed while I pried out the circlip, working solo. Finally I ended up doing it by putting the fork legs back on the bike, removing the handle bars, putting my beat up "garage broom" through extremely loose handle bar clamps, wedging a tool (a 12-point internal wrench in this case) between the broom handle and the fork cap, and slowly tightening the handle bar clamps until the cap was compressed. The pictures below might help explain better (click for a larger view):

Farther Away

Closeup

After doing that, the rest of the procedure was easy. I can't wait to take it out and see if it made any difference.